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It's about three months into Asher Williams' first assignment as a priest. At first, the idea had been daunting, but he's found himself settling in well and he's growing increasingly fond of the people he sees every week.

At first, many of them hadn't shied away from pointing out that he's quite a bit younger than the man he'd replaced, but he's mostly proven himself to be more capable and patient than they might have expected from a man in his early 30s. He does his best to carry himself as a much older man might, even if he lets a few things like his red hair slip through.

Today, he's greeting people after mass, asking a kind old woman about her grandchildren and congratulating a new mother when he looks up and catches sight of Lassiter, throwing a small wave his way and extricating himself from his current conversation. They've only spoken a few times, but Asher likes to keep up a friendly rapport with everyone he sees regularly.

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Perhaps it was the divorce, finally dropped upon him like an anvil that hung above him for the better part of five years, that brought him here. Perhaps it was his colleagues' insistence that he go out, meet people, stop moping around the police station. Whatever it was, Carlton had to admit, it was nice to get back into the habit of going to church every week. Sure, he'd go on the major holidays - when there wasn't a case to work on, anyway - but he'd let the habit go a little as he got older, throwing himself into work, into trying to save his marriage... It had been a heavy weight upon him for so long, it was actually nice to finally be free of it.

Certainly - though he might not admit to it at first - one aspect that he particularly enjoyed was listening to Father Williams' sermons each week. He seemed young, and yet wise for so few years. And unlike some of the older members of the clergy, he never made him feel guilty about that whole divorce thing (eh, everyone's doing it these days, anyway). Unexpectedly, he could almost see him as a person with whom he could become friends. When was the last time he'd had a non-work friend? If he had to ask himself that question, it had been too long.

He tries not to crowd in on the priest following mass; though he is looking forward to talking with him again, a good number of the congregation will swarm him - often the women? odd - immediately. That's why, when he sees him wave and start to head over in his direction, Carlton flashes him a rare smile, and moves to meet him halfway.

"Morning, Father," he says. It's still a little weird, he thinks, calling a man younger than him that. "You gave another great sermon, as always. I thoroughly enjoyed it."

sorry for the delay on these threads. RL's been intense

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Asher gives him a warm smile, not unlike the smiles he's given others, but it's no less personal and genuine. Too many priests seem to focus on fear and shame these days, but he prefers a more positive approach to God. The rules are important, of course, but there should be joy in it, too, and he likes to put a little of that in every sermon.

"Thank you. It was one of my favorites so far." He shifts his weight from one foot to the other. "I've been seeing a lot of you lately, haven't I?"

He does pay attention to things like that, tries to know everyone that he can. It's important to him that he take an interest in people and their lives and that they feel that they can come to him with anything they might struggle with. Helping people is what brought him to the priesthood.

That many of the people who come to him are women has not been at the forefront if his thoughts. He'd never paid much attention to women as more than simply people, even before he'd decided to enter the priesthood. Friends and family had always interested him more, anyway.