Awakening Supports/Gaius Libra
C Support
Gaius:
Hmm? What's this fancy little doll doing here?
Libra:
Excuse me, sir. I believe that is mine. I must have dropped it earlier.
Gaius:
Righto, then. Here you go! So what is that little doodad, anyway? A graven image of one of your gods?
Libra:
Oh, no. It's just a toy doll, really. The children at the orphanage have been asking me for toys. They wanted something they could hold at night—to help them sleep, you see.
Gaius:
You sewed a doll for a pack of whelps you barely know? I think there's a special place for you in heaven, Padre!
Libra:
Oh, it's not so bad. It only takes me a few hours to construct each one. And to be frank, such honest labor scarcely feels like work at all.
Gaius:
Some days, just getting out of bed is labor enough for me... Say, though. You ever considered giving the little moppets sweets as well?
Libra:
Sweets?
Gaius:
You know, sugary stuff. Pastries and whatnot? Kids love 'em.
Libra:
Oh, I see. No, I had no such plans. The thought never occurred to me. But perhaps it is something to keep in mind for the next visit. Thank you, Gaius. I'm glad this chat wasn't a complete waste of time.
Gaius:
Er... Me, too? Although... Hmm...
Libra:
Yes? Something on your mind?
Gaius:
Well, I'm just thinking... I mean, let's say you make enough sweets for an entire orphanage. That's going to be a LOT of sweets, right? Massive piles of 'em. So maybe you might put aside a couple for, say, the man who gave you the idea? I mean, it's only fair, right?
Libra:
...You're asking me to steal sweets from orphans?
B Support
Libra:
O gods, hear my plea and partake—
Gaius:
Hey there, Padre. Having a little chat with the management, are we?
Libra:
I was praying, if that's what you mean. Perhaps you would care to join me? A good soul cleansing can do wonders for one's mood.
Gaius:
I've never been much for talking to the blokes upstairs, you know? Still, what can it hurt just this once? So, uh, how's this work? I can ask for anything I want, or what?
Libra:
Well, it is true that many people pray to receive things for themselves. But originally, prayers were not used to beseech the gods for favors. Rather, they were used to give thanks for blessings already received.
Gaius:
Blessings, eh? So I could say thanks for candied figs and honey cakes? Oh, and fruit pies, too?
Libra:
Er, yes. I suppose so. If they are something you feel profoundly grateful for.
Gaius:
Profoundly doesn't begin to cover it. ...So, er, do I kneel or what? Is there a bench involved somehow?
Libra:
It is customary to bend the knee in supplication, yes. Now then...
Gaius:
......
Libra:
......
Gaius:
O ye gods, thanks a billion for all thine abundantly sweet and tasty goodness...
Libra:
Dear gods, thank you for watching over us, and protecting our friends and comrades.
Gaius:
What? Thou art jealous, O mighty gods? Jealous and angry, you say? Then send thou's terrible fruit pies to me, that I might use them to smite thine foes!
Libra:
...?
Gaius:
I also love jellied pears, O vengeful ones! And those biscuits with goo in the middle!
Libra:
Gaius, your demands for sweets hover ever closer to blasphemy...
Gaius:
O furious and insane gods! Send me ten—nay, TWENTY of your finest cakes!
Libra:
He's not listening to a word I say. Gaius? GAIUS!
Gaius:
...Huh? Hey there, Padre. What's with the shouting?
Libra:
I was shouting because you were completely ignoring me! That wasn't a prayer—it was a market list! The gods are not scullery maids who deliver treacle tarts on demand!
Gaius:
Oh. Right, yeah...sure. Sorry. Got carried away. I'll start over, then. *Ahem* O most horrifying and fattened gods, thou art most tricksy in thine ways...
Libra:
D-dear gods, please send not lightning to strike down this heretic... He knows not what he does!
Gaius:
I will deliver unto thee my first-born son, if only you make donuts rain down upon—
Libra:
GAAAIUS!
Gaius:
...Whoops. Sorry.
A Support
Libra:
O gods, I thank you for this most blessed of days.
Gaius:
......
Libra:
You're desperately trying not to think of sweets, aren't you?
Gaius:
...Maybe.
Libra:
Your trembling lip, your sweaty brow, your uncontrollable drooling... These are all the signs of a man fighting great temptation.
Gaius:
Not so, Padre. Ha ha! Who's religious now? I was just praying that I'd be unharmed in the next battle.
Libra:
Oh? That's actually quite sensible. Perhaps I was being unfair. I thought for sure you were dreaming about swimming in syrup or some nonsense. But why now, if I may? You usually have such a cavalier attitude toward battle.
Gaius:
Well, in that last battle we fought, I had me a pretty close shave. If I'd been a split-second slower, my head would have been bouncing across the field. It made me think. You never know when your number's going to be up, you know? Anyway, I figured maybe I should take these prayers a bit more seriously.
Libra:
Coming face-to-face with one's own mortality can have that effect.
Gaius:
But why should the gods pay an old sinner like me any mind? It's not like I've ever done anything to earn their appreciation.
Libra:
In the eyes of the gods, we are all innocent, if only we open our hearts to them.
Gaius:
Yeah, that's easy for you to say, Padre. I bet you've never once strayed from the straight and narrow.
Libra:
Oh, if it were only so... I am as much a sinner as anyone.
Gaius:
You? Lord Squeaky Clean? I find that hard to believe.
Libra:
Think about how many people have died because of me.
Gaius:
Huh?
Libra:
Every time I survive a battle, it means others have died in my place. And when I pray for safety in a fight, it is the same as praying for my foe's death.
Gaius:
Wow. Never thought of that. ...Wait, so I've been praying for other people to die, too?! Crivens! I'm a terrible person!
Libra:
Not terrible. Just human. Every soldier who prays for deliverance has done the same.
Gaius:
This religion stuff is complicated.
Libra:
Yet, we should still pray. We shall pray for ourselves, and each other, and for our allies and comrades. Even though in doing so, we are praying for the death of strangers.
Gaius:
...... O gods...
