The Merits of Worship

Erione was genuinely excited, in almost the same way he had been the first time he came to that particular cafe. That time he had been about to talk to Jude regarding the sculptures he wanted of his father and all the other people that he planned to give out to his friends. It felt fitting that now Erione was meeting one of Jude's friends there to discuss creating something else. Only this time it wasn't going to be him doing the construction. After all, a Lumian god cannot build their own shrines.

The comfortable little cafe known for its great pancakes had been recommended to Jude by Officer Genovese and after Jude and Erione had met there Eri had decided to go back multiple times until it was pretty familiar to him. That's why he was able to pop out of the front window onto the sidewalk rather than take the arduous trek on foot to the cafe.

Walking inside Erione picked a nice booth where he would be visible from the doorway and then floated a piece of pink glass in the shape of a smiley face over the table for good measure. He told the waitress he was waiting for someone before ordering but he would take a glass of orange juice if she didn't mind.

While Erione waited for Rory to arrive he rearranged the various pins on his shirt in some pattern that must have only made sense in his head. Or maybe he just felt like doing something with his hands.



@Sarrain

Erione smiled a little to himself. When he warned people that he knew when and where a piece of glass was appreciated he wasn't exaggerating. Among all the happy little pings sent to him while he sat there in the cafe he noticed one set that was getting closer. Rory had cared enough about the statue of Breakneck that she had decided to bring it with her. That act alone was probably enough to qualify as appreciating the piece of glass in some way.

Eri could have sworn there was something a little off with Rory, she looked fairly normal and happy but there were enough little things that had him guessing something was up. To be fair, Erione reminded himself, what they were going to talk about was a pretty big deal.

However he just smiled cheerfully at Rory and placed his order with the waitress. Blueberry pancakes and a side of bacon. Maybe a little rude since she wasn't ordering food but he was hungry and the pancakes there were so good.

"No, you're fine. Even if you were late I don't have anything planned for a few hours anyway," he said reassuringly. As he spoke he produced two pieces of dark green glass and began shaping them into what appeared to be a knife and fork.

"I'll try to answer any questions you have so if one pops into your head just ask. From what you said on the phone it sounded like you were thinking about helping me get better situated here in this world." Erione's excitement was showing in his face though he was trying to look calm. He couldn't help it- this could be the chance he needed to have shrine built and keep himself, well, relevant. As far as he knew no god from his home world had extended themselves into another dimension and it wouldn't be pretty if he was suddenly left disconnected here without any worshipers or shrines at all.

Erione had indeed been getting little pings of joy as each of the people on the island enjoyed having the little gifts he had distributed. Looking at them and using them to help remember people that were effectively lost was absolutely one way of appreciating his gifts. The statues he had made with Jude were some of the most meaningful pieces he had made since coming to the island.

He nodded at Rory's questions. It wasn't the first time someone who already had faith in another god asked him about worship. Slightly different since, from what Erione had read, the God she was talking about was monotheistic but the idea was pretty much the same. "I don't know exactly how that God works but yeah, a real prayer is a direct connection to me. To vent, to ask for help, to tell me how you are feeling or anything you want really," he said as he happily recalled the time when a young child had prayed to him to thank him for the tiny little glass animals he had fixed for her. Of course then she started talking all about her day at school until her mom stopped her and that prayer finished. Not a second of it did he regret hearing. "Shrines can be as simple as my worshipers want. Public or private, they just have to be large enough for me to visit and have at least one worshiper leaving offerings regularly."

Erione sat back in his seat and looked like he was thinking for a moment before continuing. "I don't ask my worshipers to only follow me. Where I come from it's normal to worship any number of gods that you feel a connection to. If this is going to make you uncomfortable I do not want you to do it." His tone was still friendly and cheerful but he was quite serious. Given the choice between forcing someone to worship him so he could live and fading away he would take the latter every time. "I've been thinking about shrines since I came back here and I think I have two options unless I find a worshiper with more means or a better idea. First, I could just have a worshiper or more with their own personal shrines to me. The second option would be to build a small but more public shrine in a sculpture garden or somewhere like that. I can't afford to rent a building or anything that extreme right now."

Erione smiled and shook his head. "It's never silly if it's something a worshiper shares with me. I'll always listen," he said reassuringly. Of course he would cut someone off if they started abusing it to be offensive towards him but at that point they would probably be rejected as a worshiper and it wouldn't matter anyway. "For a prayer to get to me you have to use my name and you must be either at a shrine or holding one of the gifts I make."

Erione nodded. He knew exactly how fragile glass could be. "It depends on how thick the glass is but no, the whole thing doesn't need to be glass. As long as there is some sort of focus piece, like a sculpture or even just a nice looking shard of glass, large enough for me to visit through it should work. Offerings really can be just about anything. Food, money, creative works. It's more about the gesture than the actual value. Throw trash at me though and I'll throw it right back," he finished with joke.

While talking he had had produced a bit of pink glass and was shaping it between a series of different versions of simple shrines that his worshipers had built. Many of them were just small structures with a roof to protect it and any worshipers, an important or interesting large piece of glass at the center, and a place for offerings to be left. Several of them appeared to have some sort of wind chimes, presumably made of glass, or decorative windows. It was a little difficult to see all the features at small scale and only rendered in a single color and material.

He listened as she explained why the conversation and the idea of worshiping a god like him was unusual for her. It was genuinely hard for him to understand worshiping a god and not knowing if they were truly listening or not. It was so different than his experience, but then his whole world was different. "I'm definitely real, no doubt about that," he chuckled, "I guess it would take a little getting used to but you could stop worshiping at any time." The next part caught him off guard though and he stopped tweaking the latest structure he had made out of the pink glass to look Rory in the eyes. "Oh, no no no," he quickly replied as he shook his head. "I'm not compelled like that. I mean I want to help my worshipers but that's the same way I feel about my friends. I think maybe you understand that pretty well yourself."

Rory did have good ideas for the shrine even though this was all fairly new to her. Erione tried to imagine what it would feel like to have a nice peaceful shrine here on the island. It was going to be great. "I like the sound of that. It means the shrine will be inviting to people but out of the way enough that it can be focused on the connection between myself and my worshipers without being bothered."

As Erione smiled at Rory's ideas the waitress came by to apologize for the wait and served Rory her coffee from a fresh pot. She mentioned to Eri that his pancakes should be ready soon.

From the way Rory was paying attention Eri could tell she was seriously considering the things he was saying. Not just being polite but actually listening and thinking this all through. It was a very good sign as far as he was concerned. "Back home I could reply to people's prayers but I hadn't quite mastered it yet. I think once I have a shrine here I should be able to do that here too," he replied. He wondered if that was something she wanted or something that would bother her. Oh well, if she decided to worship him he would just simply ask her. No need to make things complicated.

Eri also laughed at the joke. It was good for both of them- the whole thing about worship and shrines and all that was a big deal but it was also supposed to be enjoyable. Erione's cheerful and friendly personality was just as much a part of his appeal as a god as his abilities with glass are.

After mentioning helping friends Erione saw that Rory seemed to get a little more thoughtful for a moment. He was no expert in body language or anything like that but if he had to guess, something about that might have struck a chord in her. It was the kind of thing that he might ask about if he was having a private conversation with a worshiper. Just in case it was something he could help with. However it wasn't as appropriate to ask too much about it right then so he decided to reference it and allow things to move on past that topic. "It's a good thing to want to help your friends. As long as you remember to get help yourself when you need it." For a normal 16 year old that type of sentiment might have been a little unusual but he was a god that had been taught how to be that way all his life.

The interruption of the arrival of coffee had been fairly unexpected as they had both been pretty deep in their conversation. As Erione watched Rory enjoying her coffee he halfway regretted not ordering some of his own but that was just a fleeting thought. Especially since it seemed almost like the arrival of coffee had given Rory a nudge towards making her decision.

"You'll help build a shrine and be my worshiper? That's wonderful!," he said as his face practically glowed with pure unfiltered joy. "I meant it when I said you can stop worshiping at any time, but i'm so glad you're willing to see if it feels right for you." He was so freaking excited. Setting up his first shrine on the island would be an unimaginable relief to him. Like the mental equivalent of having the worst cold where you couldn't breath through your nose until suddenly it all clears and you can breathe perfectly fine again. But not all gross and snot related.

He couldn't help but giggle a little as he put his hands up like he was surrendering. "Don't worry, I don't plan on fighting you. I believe what you said and I think your reasons for doing it sound, well, reasonable. Also i'm pretty sure you would have no problem breaking me in a fight." Another joke, of course. He knew it wasn't an actual fight they were talking about, though technically it was very true she could easily destroy him in combat. Fighting wasn't really his domain.

Settling himself back in his seat, Erione floated the hunk of pink glass up to his arm and began winding it out into a bracelet. "I guess until the shrine is up we can just use our phones to communicate. Unfortunately I don't think my connection here is quite strong enough until then to let me reliably get prayers from the people here."