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moonsofmars-writes · 4 years ago

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Just a normal date

Fandom: Trollhunters - Daniel Kraus & Guillermo del Toro, Tales of Arcadia (Cartoons) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Relationships: Jim Lake Jr./Claire Nuñez Characters: Jim Lake Jr. (Tales of Arcadia), Claire Nuñez Additional Tags: Canon Compliant, Sort Of, Fluff, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Some light angst, Anxious Jim, Post-Season 3 (Trollhunters), jlaire, Inspired by Fanart, Halloween

Summary: While in New Jersey, Claire asks Jim out for a surprise date.

“Jim, stop.” When he looks up, he finds Claire watching him with furrowed brows and pursed lips.

“What? I didn’t say anything!”

“You are overthinking! Don’t try to deny it,” she adds when he opens his mouth, “I can see it. Calm down, everything will be fine.” Her gaze softens, her grip on his hand tightens a little. “We are going to have fun, I promise. Trust me?”

Notes: I saw this amazing fanart by @sparemoon and simply had to write something about it because I loved the idea! It’s just so perfect! I hope you enjoy!

It’s been weeks since they left Arcadia, weeks since he chose to become, as Merlin put it, a “true Trollhunter.” Yet Jim is still not used to feeling so incredibly vulnerable when he walks on plain sight, where everyone could see him and - well, most likely run away screaming.

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” He asks, looking around nervously. Perhaps he is worrying too much; it’s late, the moon is a thin silver cut in the dark blue of the sky, and the streets are illuminated only by the warm light of the lampposts. The few people they met were dark, distant figures that quickly disappeared in other roads. He still feels nervous as he was walking in broad daylight. After all, this is not Arcadia. He highly doubts that here in New Jersey people would ignore a weird guy made of stone wandering in their roads, if they noticed him. He truly misses home right now. He and his friends hunted Goblins and fought Gumm-Gumms nightly and the only person who ever got suspicious was Eli! Things were so much easier there.

“Don’t worry!” Claire glances back at him, a reassuring smile on her lips, and keeps dragging him down the street. “There is no danger, I promise you. I have a plan!”

Read on AO3

“If you say so,” Jim says under his breath. His muscles are still tense and he is ready to jump away from the road if he hears someone approaching. Why has Claire insisted that they walked down the streets? But she seemed so sure when she asked him out for a date, so excited when she convinced him to go into town by her side, that Jim didn’t have the heart to refuse. They have grown closer during their trip and there have been plenty of strolls, just the two of them, holding hands and stargazing, but the last time they had a date in town was ... wait, how long ago was it? There had been that time before the Eternal Night, with Toby and Darci, but Morgana definitely ruined it. And before … Well, there were their patrols but they weren't very romantic - maybe before Gunmar got out of the Darklands? No, before there was Angor Rot and ... Jim sighs, giving up. Apparently being Trollhunters ruined way too many of their dates.

That’s another reason why Claire deserves to have this. A normal date - or the closest thing to a normal date her half-troll boyfriend can offer her. She would deserve so much more, though, he muses, watching her walk in front of him. She deserves to be taken to dance or to the movie theatre or to eat something in a fancy restaurant - with someone who can actually eat with her instead of munching the cutlery. He hates the fact that he can’t do any of these things anymore.

“Jim, stop.” When he looks up, he finds Claire watching him with furrowed brows and pursed lips.

“What? I didn’t say anything!”

It’s not like Jim has any other choice when she looks at him like that. “Always,” he mutters and he feels his cheeks getting warmer when she laughs. She let her hair down tonight and wears dark makeup around her eyes that make them look larger and intense. She is beautiful.

“Okay Romeo, then let’s go! We are almost there!” She turns around, making her black skirt lift a little around her legs. The dress she is wearing is new, it has large sleeves and a hood, but he hasn't had much time to admire her before she put on a sweater. Has he told her already how good she looks with that dress? Maybe he should tell her again, if only to see her smile. He’ll have to remember to do that later.

“Can you tell me where we are going now?” He asks instead.

She turns just for a moment to wink at him, “You’ll see.”

Jim knows better than to ask her again, he is not going to convince her to talk. He sighs and keeps following her, occasionally glancing around to make sure that no one is watching them from the windows.

He hears the music first - loud and rhythmical, it feels closer every step he takes. His ears twitch and his nose wrinkles when the smell of smoke and food reaches him. That’s when they turn the corner and he can finally see the house down the street. Jim halts, his mouth falling open. The walls are illuminated by multicoloured lights and he can see the silhouettes of people dancing in the yard. “Is that - a party?”

“Yes!” Her mouth is curved into a wide grin, “Here’s where I came this morning. They said everyone could come and that we could join whenever we wanted!”

“But Claire, I …” He swallows and takes a step back, eyes darting from side to side looking for a hiding place. “I am so sorry, I can’t come with you! They would start screaming as soon as they see me, and I just don’t - I don’t want to ruin everything. You’ll get in trouble and - and the others are waiting for us, I can’t risk them being discovered!” His chest starts hurting and he has to stop to take a deep breath.

“Jim, calm down, please!” Claire says as she reaches him and takes his hands in hers, “it’s okay! Do you -”

“It’s not okay!” He interrupts her, “You deserve someone who can take you at parties or wherever you want to go, and instead you are stuck with me.” He looks down, mouth clenched, and pulls back, away from the light of the lampposts and towards the shadow.

“Jim, please, stop." He hesitates, eyes still fixed on the ground, and that's enough for her to reach him. He feels her fingers travel along his chin and cheeks, then rubbing tiny circles on his skin. "Look at me," she whispers. When he does, he finds her staring at him with determined eyes, brows slightly furrowed. “I don’t want a random guy who can take me at parties," she says firmly. "I want you, Jim Lake Jr. You and no one else. Do you get it? I love you, no matter where you can or cannot take me."

He stares at her for long moments, breath stuck in his throat. She is not lying, she wouldn’t - she is really okay with it. Something warm seems to melt in his chest, and finally he feels his muscles relaxing. "I love you too," he manages to croak, making her smile.

"Now, please, breathe."

He does, and his chest starts feeling lighter. Heaving a sigh, he leans towards her until their foreheads are touching. “You are incredible, Claire Nuñez.”

“We both are,” she chuckles, “Now, will you let me explain?”

His voice is small when he answers, “Okay.”

“Do you know what day it is?”

“Erm … Saturday?”

“No - well, yes, but it’s not just a common Saturday!”

Jim lifts an eyebrow, “Oh?”

She grins and takes something out of her purse. He doesn’t get what she is doing until she has stuffed it into her mouth and gave him a wide smile to show a pair of white plastic fangs. “It’s Halloween, Jim! Tonight we can be whatever we want!”

Halloween? Oh. Oh. “Claire,” he says breathlessly, “you are a genius!”

“I know,” she laughs as she takes off her sweater, revealing her dress - now he gets it, it's a costume! “Now, let me finish my makeup and then let’s go having some fun!”

Minutes later, they are entering the house’s yard, Claire now wearing black lipstick and some face powder. She waves at someone in the crowd, most likely the people she spoke with this morning, but Jim is too distracted by the people to identify them. Everyone is wearing costumes, makeup, even masks and fake horns and fangs. His gut clenches when he notices that some people still stare at him, but theirs are not looks of fear, they are looks of - wonder and admiration?

“Wow dude, cool makeup!” A girl comments walking past him, winking at him front under a black witch hat. “Where did you get those fangs?”

“I, uhm, online?” Jim mutters before Claire drags him away. The girl is soon lost in the crowd, but she is not the only one who compliments him for his “incredible costume” before they finally get to the dance floor.

Claire spins around so that she can face him and takes both his hands. “Now, may I have this dance?” She asks, beaming at him.

“Of course,” he smiles, “No Troll assassin should ruin it this time.”

“Don’t say that!” She laughs, “Now, dance with me.”

Admittedly, Jim didn't have much time to practice his dancing skills in the past few months, and at first, he feels a little awkward. What if he ends up drawing attention, what if someone realises his it's not a costume? But then, he focuses on her. Claire dances, eyes closed, a wide smile on her lips, so obviously having fun that his heart warms. Finally, he lets himself go and dances with her - and it’s liberating, like the burden he felt over his shoulders until now has finally disappeared. A laugh escapes him as he takes her hand in his to make her twirl. No one is looking at them - not for the reasons he feared at least, and for once, he realises, no one is going to attack them in the middle of their date. For once, he can be a normal boy enjoying a date with his girlfriend. He can be just Jim again, tonight.

#trollhunters #tales of arcadia #jlaire #jim lake jr #claire nuñez #toa #jlaire fanfiction #trollhunters fanfiction #fluff #mars-writes #when you find a fanart too good not to write #these two are so cute!

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onwardintolight · 8 years ago

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Leia Organa, INFP

Recently I read a fantastic post by @bestmixtapeintherecorder about how Han and Leia are so often misjudged as an introvert and an extravert, respectively, when it’s really vice versa. This is something I’ve also been thinking about for a long time, particularly with Leia. In MBTI terms, Leia is almost always typed as either an ESTJ or an ENTJ, and that’s never sat right with me. Both of those seem more like typings based on a pop culture idea of who Leia is rather than on the Leia we actually see in the movies and books. While I realize that as a fictional character, the minutia of her personality is somewhat open to interpretation, I think I have ample reason to argue that she’s an INFP instead.

Disclaimer: I myself am an INFP. Maybe this makes me biased. Maybe this means I have unique insight into how an INFP would act when thrown into Leia’s situation. Maybe both! Either way, I think there’s plenty of evidence to back up my opinion. BUT: one of the joys of fictional characters is that we get to project ourselves onto them, and consequently they shape our perception of our own journeys and who we are. So if you prefer an ESTJ Leia or some other type entirely, more power to you. Feel free to ignore this (or argue away to your heart’s content). I’m writing this for everyone else who isn’t satisfied with that typing.

I’m going to be drawing evidence from not only the movies, but also from parts of the new Disney canon like Bloodline and the Aftermath Trilogy, as well as what I see as generally accepted fanon (particularly among fanfic writers). If you’re not into Disney canon, don’t worry — there should still be enough without it to back up my argument.

You may be asking, why INFP? Aren’t INFPs more of a quiet, soft and gentle type compared to Leia, who takes charge and will not hesitate to put you in your place? Truth is, INFPs often get stereotyped as the most cinnamon roll type of all the cinnamon rolls, but this is, quite frankly, wrong. They certainly can act like cinnamon rolls at times (when they’re at their least stressed), often being very kind, tolerant, sensitive and compassionate. But cross their deeply-held values, or get them stressed, and they will wipe the floor with you. In reality, INFPs are the type that looks like a cinnamon roll but will kill you.

I’m going to argue that most of the time we see Leia in the movies (especially in ANH and ESB), she is really stressed. Consequently, we see a lot more of her inferior function, Te, than we would otherwise. This is why people often mistakenly type her as a Te-dom (ESTJ or ENTJ). In doing so, they’re failing to account for the fact that Leia has had/is having a whole lot of super freaking stressful and traumatic things happen to her, which is naturally going to shape how her personality appears to us.

First let’s take a look at each of the INFP cognitive functions and how Leia exhibits them, and then I’ll do some further expounding and comparison with ESTJ/ENTJ.

Dominant Function: Introverted Feeling (Fi)

Leia’s core motivation for everything she does is her values — this is what drives her. Very idealistic, she throws her entire life into championing her cause and fighting for justice, freedom, and everything she believes is right. In the SW Rebels episode A Princess on Lothal, she tells Ezra, “I feel like because I can fight, I have to, for those who cannot.” (Te-doms, on the other hand, while having Fi as their inferior function, are driven more by a need to direct, organize and problem-solve.) While she may be a lot more open-minded on lesser matters, she will rigidly defend her values when they are challenged and can be somewhat black and white when it comes to them.

She doesn’t feel the need to conform. She is strong-willed and stubborn, and can be a bit rebellious, willing even to defy her superiors in order to do what she feels is right. We can see this in the Princess Leia comic when she disobeys General Dodonna’s orders in order to gather and protect the galaxy’s remaining Alderaanians, in Aftermath: Life Debt when she defies Mon Mothma and runs off to rescue Han and help liberate Kashyyyk, in Bloodline when she engages in some questionably legal behavior because she feels her investigation is so important, and of course, in her position as a rebel to begin with.

Additionally, growing up, she sometimes struggled with conforming to what was expected of her as a princess or learning certain things (such as her aunts’ etiquette lessons and politics) if she didn’t think they were meaningful, true to her values and/or herself. Eventually, after talks such as the one she remembers having with her father in the Princess Leia comic (#2), her eyes were opened to the meaning and potential in politics, how it could be used to champion a cause, and she decided to follow in Bail’s footsteps.

At the beginning of Bloodline, Leia is disillusioned by the state of the Senate and wants to quit her role as senator. She tells Han, “Every debate on the Senate floor turns into an endless argument over ‘tone’ or ‘form’ and never about issues of substance.” When she takes action later, she feels much more like herself again, because she feels like she’s doing something meaningful. This shows she’s less concerned about the organization of the New Republic than about defending the values and causes that are close to her heart.

Leia is incredibly passionate. Like all Fi-doms, she has a rich inner world of emotion, though it is sometimes not apparent to others due to her natural guardedness. She can appear cold, but underneath the surface she is anything but. She may be able to analyze her own feelings but have trouble opening up about them to others, except in the occasional outburst. She struggles with admitting her feelings for Han aloud, instead talking about him in the context of her values/the cause (e.g. in the corridors of Hoth — Han is directly asking her to admit her feelings for him and all she can allow herself to say is “You’re a great help to us. You’re a natural leader….”). Later, when confronted by Luke about the truth of her family in RotJ, as @bestmixtapeintherecorder has already said, she shuts down emotionally. She is extremely distressed but unable to open up to Han about everything just yet (she needs more time to process it all inside, first). And yet, throughout the movies, I get the sense that even though she doesn’t always express it, just underneath the surface is a well of deep passion and feeling (which Han can sometimes be pretty good at provoking). I think it is clear that she has a deep emotional fire that both fuels and assails her, and helps drive her in her fight for justice.

Auxiliary Function: Extraverted Intuition (Ne)

Leia chose to follow in her father’s footsteps and become a senator. I doubt she would have done this if she was utterly lacking in Ne, a function that balances the strength of her Fi by helping her to engage empathetically with people and see many possibilities. She is skilled in diplomacy — we see this firsthand in her interaction with the Ewoks in RotJ, whom she is able to befriend and consequently rally to her cause, and throughout the expanded universe (both Disney Canon and old EU). Caring and open-minded, she is able to see and understand multiple points of view (though she may still oppose them rigidly if they run up against the values of her Fi). Her comment to Luke about Han in ANH, “He’s got to follow his own path, no one can choose it for him,” illustrates this. Also, in Bloodline, she is able to acknowledge the perspectives of both Populists and Centrists to some extent, and while she firmly rejects certain Centrist viewpoints, she is willing to seek a compromise for the sake of the bigger picture (her value of protecting the New Republic) when most of her fellow Populists aren’t. She does not dogmatically take a side and stay there unquestioningly. Instead, using her Ne in combination with her Fi, she evaluates all sides of an issue and determines what fits with her values.

She is a good listener, and others may find themselves confiding in her, as Luke does on the way to Yavin, or as Casterfo ends up doing in Bloodline.

Ne also helps her adapt to a situation and be resourceful. We see this in her finding a way out of the detention block through the garbage chute in ANH, her use of the chain that bound her to Jabba to strangle him, and countless other ways.

Fanon usually describes Leia as a broadly intelligent person with wide academic interests and an appreciation for the arts and sciences. While we don’t have a chance to see this side of her in the movies simply because it’s wartime, Ne would make her curious and eager to learn and understand (at least whatever her Fi tells her to be interested in). It would also give her a measure of creativity and a way to healthily channel her emotions, something which she has no opportunity to do while at war, to her own detriment. An INFP’s Ne can also give them a particular skill with words and language, which we see in Leia’s ability (bolstered by the Force) to compose inspiring and persuading speeches.

Finally, her Ne may be a factor in making her particularly adept at certain Force skills. Leia seems to have a profound intuitive connection with her environment, magnified through the Force. She is very sensitive to the ambience of a place, to feelings, and impressions. We see this in her nervousness at Cloud City because something doesn’t feel right, and her sense of having “always known” during her talk with Luke in RotJ. There’s a beautiful passage in the RotJ novel where, as she’s led by Wicket to the Ewok’s village, she has a sudden awareness of the trees and the world around her that fills her with wonder, and a sense of being caught up in the grandness of the universe and the life-force. This not only fits with her Force abilities, but also with Ne.

Tertiary Function: Introverted Sensing (Si)

Si places a lot of weight on personal experiences/memories, lessons learned in the past. It is nostalgic and takes comfort in routine, tradition and familiarity (providing some balance with her Ne, which is more open to new experiences and adventure).

Leia has a good memory; she remembers “images” of her real mother (possibly from a dream). She is also committed to continuing her father’s work and upholding the ideals of Alderaan and the Republic. When she is struggling, she often turns to routine for comfort, losing herself in her work and in her efforts for the cause. 

In the Aftermath trilogy, she has trouble adjusting to both her new life post-fighting and the New Republic. She is so used to being able to act when she sees something wrong, but now it seems like there are a million political hoops to jump through that weren’t there before. When faced with a breach in her Fi’s values, she falls back on tradition and, in a sense, never stops being a rebel. Later, she will found the Resistance — once again, it’s a familiar way of doing things for her, coupled with her Fi’s quest for meaning and defense of values.

Inferior Function: Extraverted Thinking (Te)

Leia has been thrust into leadership positions throughout her whole life. As @bestmixtapeintherecorder said, this doesn’t mean that she’d choose it for herself, all things being equal. In fact, in RotJ, we see her taking more of a backseat, and in Bloodline, she only accepts her nomination for First Senator with extreme reluctance. However, when put into a leadership position, she shows herself to be effective and able. Her Te also couples with her Fi to lead her to jump into a debate or fight if she feels her values are challenged.

Like I said earlier, Te is where I think everyone gets hung up when typing Leia. She so clearly exhibits Te that most people assume it’s her dominant function (hence ESTJ and ENTJ). However, throughout much of the movies, Leia is incredibly stressed. Under extreme stress, the inferior function tends to take the lead, though it often comes out in negative ways or as somewhat of a caricature of dominant Te. This is exactly what we often see in Leia, particularly in ANH and ESB. Throughout those movies, she’s lost her home and family, she’s been through torture and trauma, she’s fighting on the front lines in a war, and on top of all that, she’s struggling with her frustration at and feelings for Han. Consequently, she is frequently “in the grip” of her Te. When this happens, she lashes out at others, unleashing sarcasm and biting remarks, becoming more rigid, judgmental, intolerant and even insensitive. Everything becomes even more black and white as the tempering nature of her Ne is gone. She will often seek to gain control of a situation (and thus control of herself, too).

A good example of this is in Aftermath: Life Debt when her stress over Han’s disappearance and her frustration over what she feels are heartless political processes cause her to explode during a meeting with Mon Mothma, Admiral Ackbar, and others. We also see this at the beginning of Bloodline — when faced with Casterfo’s collection of Imperial paraphernalia (which challenges her values and likely also triggers her PTSD), she eventually loses control of her anger, forgets any semblance of tolerance she had previously tried to summon, and lets loose on Casterfo, arguing viciously with him before coldly leaving the room. And of course, we see this throughout the movies in her sarcasm and insults as she takes charge of her rescue in ANH, and in her constant fighting with Han in ESB.

Sometimes, when in the grip of her Te, she may make questionable decisions in the heat of the moment, saying things she’ll later regret or trying to “fix” a situation in a way that won’t fix it at all (for example, kissing Luke in ESB to prove a point to Han that isn’t even true).

By the second half of RotJ, while she is still in a stressful wartime situation, I’d argue that she’s much more relaxed, having Han back and feeling a new sense of determination and purpose. Consequently, we don’t see as much of her sharp tongue, angry outbursts, or need for control.

If Leia were an ESTJ or an ENTJ, her behavior would be somewhat different when stressed. An ExTJ in the grip of inferior Fi is less able to think logically or stay organized and efficient, and they will tend to be overcome by the feeling that they aren’t appreciated for what they do. I don’t think we see this in Leia at all during her most stressful moments. On the contrary, she becomes more logical, rigid, and efficient, and doesn’t seem to wallow in self-pity (though she may be very critical of both herself and others).

I also think that if Leia were an ESTJ or ENTJ, she wouldn’t be quite as idealistic as we see her throughout the books and the movies. Leia is so clearly driven by her values, by her fight for the cause, and she will and often does push back against what she sees as cold, sterile rules and bureaucracy when it hinders her fight for what she believes is right. An ESTJ or ENTJ would be more likely to see the necessity of those rules and bureaucracy.

Overall, INFPs are passionate, idealistic, caring, empathetic, stubborn, defensive, deeply emotional but closed off, sometimes tolerant and sometimes intolerant, imaginative, resourceful, sensitive, artistic, intelligent, intuitive, critical, nostalgic, intense dreamers who seek truth, justice and authenticity and are driven to make the world a better place. We see many of these qualities in Leia, and the few that aren’t as readily apparent can be easily explained due to the fact that we’re seeing her in wartime/during a time of stress, where those qualities would naturally be missing. This combined with the fact that Leia’s character and actions fit very well with the INFP functional stack, as I’ve already argued, makes me conclude that Leia is best characterized as an INFP.

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on-the-wings-of-hope-prose-en · 5 years ago

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Coming

“Comrade Captain, the suspect on the claim of blasphemy by the clergy was successfully detained by our task force in the Church of Christ the Saviour and half an hour ago was taken to the department for identification and interrogation purposes. Do you want me to send him in?”

A young red-haired junior police sergeant, always squinting like a semi-blind march cat, promptly made his brief report as soon as he opened the door to his boss’s office. Such a sly fellow, wanting a promotion. Well, we’ll see, we’ll see.

“Get him inside, Kalistratov,” police captain Christenko waved his hand authoritatively, putting the papers aside. “We will conduct a preliminary interrogation here so that we don’t have to waste too much time on him.”

“Oh, how did these priests torture us with their demands for protection of the feelings of believers!” a thought flashed inside the captain’s mind. “They constantly unload all such cases to our departments if possible. You, they say, conduct all necessary investigations, determine the degree of guilt of these disbelievers, while we will continue providing our services, helping your sinful souls in need. But don’t ever dare to let the culprits go free just like that! And where else do we have to put them? Every second man out there is a de-facto atheist, and every third of so-called believers is a hypocrite of epic proportions.”

“Drag him inside!” Kalistratov shouted, looking out into the corridor, and the two guards obediently led the handcuffed man into the room and placed him on a chair in front of the captain, keeping standing on both sides nearby.

Tenacious, accustomed to evaluating people with one cursory glance, captain Khristenko’s gaze reluctantly slid over the suspect, stopping at his eyes. Slavic appearance, thirty-five – forty years old, leatherette outerwear, jeans, calluses on the hands, blond hair. There is absolutely nothing unusual in his appearance, a classic ordinary hard worker, most likely a migrant, of which there are hundreds of thousands in Moscow, especially after the opening of the borders with Ukraine. But the eyes… they were too lively, abnormally kind.

“Did they explain to you the reason for your detention and the procedure for conducting the interrogation?” captain Christenko narrowed his eyes, aiming his gaze like a beam at the suspect’s face in an attempt to read his thoughts from facial expressions.

“Yes, in general," the detainee replied kindly and calmly. “I’m ready to talk to you.”

“This is a mild interrogation, not a conversation. You’d better thank us for not keeping you in an interrogation room behind armored glass, like a particularly dangerous person. The conditions out there are not so rosy, believe me!”

The prisoner only smiled and just nodded in response.

“I thank you for your kindness.”

“So…” The captain rummaged through the pile of papers lying on his table for a moment, searching for a folder, a pen, and a dictaphone. “By the protocol…”

“What would you like to know? I have caused no harm to any of you or to those who have addressed my heavenly father in the temple.”

“Good and evil have all become very relative terms, especially in our time. Yet the clause for blasphemy that may come into reality is a very concrete and tangible thing, believe my experience. So…” the captain glanced at the lines of text in the newly opened case. “Witnesses from among the parishioners claim that you behaved completely inappropriately in the church, never according to canons and traditions, reading very loudly and sonorously the “Lord’s Prayer” as well as asked others, I quote, “to show yourself by true deeds that are pleasing to my heavenly father, and not by words and chants imposed on you.” Where did you even find such words? What, is there is a new trend arising in social networks?”

“I only said what I had to, words coming from my heart. I reminded people of heartfelt prayer and…”

“And engaged in blasphemy, you wanted to say?”

“I said no words of lies.”

“The Son of Man, my heavenly father, has traveled the way on the earth to the heaven, in order to prepare and execute his judgment on all of its inhabitants in the appointed time, and to divide the human race into grain and ryegrass…” These are extremist statements, almost a call to terrorism! Where is your father living now? We can get him into this department if need be before you can speak another nonsense!”

“High in the heavens” the prisoner replied confidently.

“Motherfucker!”

This man was getting on the captain’s nerves. It seems that he will not see a quick confession today and the prompt closure of this case as well as his major’s shoulder straps.

“Please don’t blaspheme my mother. Those who do that will suffer hardly.”

“Are you threatening me, whelp?” the captain stood up abruptly and came close to the prisoner, measuring him with his eyes. Something in the prisoner’s eyes, however, overcame the police officer’s anger.

“You mean, he is dead?”

“He went into the best of worlds.”

Having calmed down, captain Christenko slowly returned to his desk. “You like to speak allegorically, then. Well, no matter, we have seen lots of your ilk.”

“Can I drink some water?” the prisoner addressed sergeant Kalistratov, who was standing a little distance away.

“What, do you want to transform it into wine, self-manifested Christ?!” the sergeant chuckled. “We are not supposed to drink while on duty!”

“And I didn’t offer it to you. The last time I only wanted to make a family of beggars feel joy a little.”

“And what’s wrong with us? For we also, you know, have experienced great salary cuts after all these reforms, and are precisely like beggars. Can you, say, use your great powers and save our lost souls and salaries?” the junior sergeant, who was mocking the prisoner, seemed to even infect his superior with a smile, for the latter chuckled softly into his mustache.

“Well, you are an artist indeed!” the captain chuckled. “What’s your profession, artist? A clown in a circus, I suppose?”

“I am a rescuer.”

“Fucking… division. And whom exactly? Saving our souls, I take it? Did you save a few of us with your own faked death the last time, one must believe?”

“My father didn’t send me here to die. My assassins wanted to justify themselves in future generations.”

“What is your job, I ask you?!”

“I am a rescuer. IN EMERCOM.”

The captain whistled involuntarily.

“For how long?”

“Recently. After moving.”

“Why do you then run around the temples, if you are a rescuer? Take people out of the fire alive and make waters clear the way before you!”

This time it was sergeant Kalistratov who involuntarily chuckled into his fist after these words of his superior.

“For long will unbelievers not see miracles. And even when they see it, they still won’t believe.”

“Don’t you bluff with me like that!” the captain’s face was stern again. “Why did you disturb the parishioners in the temple with your prayers? Why didn’t you take an example from them?”

“Not the prayers they were speaking, but demands. My father cannot give what many ask for those who do not deserve it.”

“And who does, oh kind one? We are all sinners around here, do you know that? With our work, it’s a sin not to get dirty.”

“Children and pure ones.”

“Hmmm…” the answers of this detainee, despite all their strangeness, in some aspects started to seem more and more meaningful to captain Christenko, not so crazy as they looked at first. But the statements, the testimony of the parishioners…

“Why did you try to rob one of the parishioners, put your hand to her stomach in the crowd? I mean the pregnant woman. We have an accusation statement from her here, too.”

“The child would have been born ill at birth and her mother would have abandoned him. I saved both of them by healing him.”

“Gha!” the captain choked on his morning tea and roll. “What a turn! Would you suggest that we simply believe it?”

“Talk to her in ten days – she will understand and change her testimony.”

“That means you’ll stay here in solitary confinement for at least ten days.”

“As will my heavenly father desires it.”

“Why didn’t you give alms to the poor at the exit? Isn’t that what that very same Jesus taught us, whom you’re completely falsely trying to imitate just right now?” the captain narrowed his eyes again, being inwardly glad of the clever question.

“That’s not a wise question to ask,” the handcuffed young man said softly, raising his bright eyes to face the police captain. “They are not beggars, but deceivers. My father gave them hands and heads, yet the work became a burden to them. They keep spending alms on their bad habits without hesitation. I can’t help those of them who don’t want to help themselves.”

“Are you reading my mind, an impostor?” the captain mentally said to himself, fixing his eyes on this hell-knows-who.

“Those who keep selling my father’s name have become impostors of your present,” the prisoner said firmly and aloud as if answering some secret question.

The captain started moving his pen slowly in the air, not knowing what to write down on a paper. “That’s how it is, as it turns out… That’s all about it…”

“I brought no harm to any living soul. You inflict it on each other yourself, and the divine law of my father punishes your destinies and bodies for such deeds.”

“Well… And why do you preach in temples alone then? Where are your chosen ones, all that so-called apostles?” junior sergeant Kalistratov decided to interfere into a dialogue that no longer looked like an interrogation, but the prisoner silently raised his sad eyes to him – and like other-worldly shadow covered his bright sight for a moment – and then he slowly looked away, sighed, giving no answer.

“What… what shall we do with him, comrade captain?” asked the sergeant, shifting from one foot to the other, clearly feeling himself out of place and watching the captain who was still slowly, as if by inertia, waving a ballpoint pen in the air, as if his thoughts were traveling at this moment somewhere far away and he was trying to finally resolve a question of extreme importance.

“Remove his handcuffs,” Christenko finally ordered. “I’ll escort him to his cell personally.”

“But, comrade captain…”

“Just do it!”

“Aye-aye, sir!” Kalistratov, frightened by the harsh tone of the captain, waved his hand to the two guards standing nearby who had removed the handcuffs from the prisoner and then promptly went out from the cabinet together with them into the corridor, continuing to mutter something to himself.

A minute later, the sound of their footsteps faded inside the maze of corridors. The man who had been arrested for blasphemy was still sitting in his chair, making no attempts to escape.

“Thank you,” he said softly. “You wanted to tell me something…”

“I have a daughter… a small one,” the captain looked at the prisoner with a hopeful, pleading look. “She’s ill… severely. It’s torture… for the three of us. Help me, please, if that’s really you… Cure her!”

“You need to tell your wife about the past,” the suspect said firmly after a few seconds.

“About what – her?”

“Yes, about your treason. Make peace with your wife. Forgive each other. Then your daughter will recover.”

“By herself?”

“By my father's will.”

“T… thank you.”

The prisoner only nodded in response.

“You surely realize that I’m going to have to put you in solitary confinement until the circumstances of the attempted theft are resolved, don’t you? If I had it my way, I’d release you right away. But this is our routine, our regulations, our rules… damn them!”

“I understand,” said the prisoner. “Don’t worry about that. Lead on.”

Having that said, he laid a reassuring hand on the captain’s shoulder, and at that very moment as if a powerful invisible wave passed through his spirit and body, bringing back strength, the desire to live, the hope of saving his own daughter, and perhaps even a little bit of faith in a miracle.

“Lead on!” repeated the prisoner.

* * *

That night, the one who walked the Earth two thousand years ago under the name of Jesus Christ did not close his eyes.

“My father!” he asked the starry heavens. “Why did you give me those who can’t go with me?”

“Others will come,” answered the sky to his spirit. “Those who will overcome their pride and comfort.”

On this clear starry night, Jesus did not close his eyes. Like a bird of paradise, his spirit glided over the Earth, invisibly touching the souls of sleeping people, as if checking which of them was still ready, still waiting for his return.”

This starry night was still waiting in the wings.

29.02.2020

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