Welcome to Gaia! ::

Rhona had gone to visit Jett the first chance she got when she knew he wouldn't be busy. She poked her head into the antique shop with sandwiches and chips in hand.

"I fell in love on accident," she said breathlessly, holding out Jett's sack to him, "I'll explain on the way but you have to come with me." She never had been very good at explaining herself, be it for effect or for lack of attention to that one very pertinent detail. But she slipped back out the door once she had spoken, legs itching to return to the church on the edge of the city, broken and burnt but very very much alive. She could spend all day there, daydreaming about how she would fix her up and love her. She could already see bright fireworks of spring flowers in white window boxes and Bleeding Heart bushes along the foundations. A walk of patterned brick and a white picket fence to welcome people within.

The early autumn air, already too cold for the time of year, picked up loose strands of hair and stole her breath. She could feel her cheeks reddening in the bite of quickly coming winter. Was he coming yet? Rhona had stopped about three feet from the door, still visible in the shop window, gloved hands clutching the food and bright hair tucked as much as possible into a knitted beanie that covered her ears. It was precious little deterrent against the cold. but she pulled up the lapels of her peacoat and huddled in against the wind.

"She's not a crush," Rhona corrected, handing over Jett's portion of the food, "She's my soul mate and I love her and she is perfect. Broken... and in need of repair but... perfect." It never occurred to Rhona to clarify what she meant -- after all, she knew what she was talking about. She led Jett down a few back roads as she ate her own lunch, tearing into the sandwich with animalistic ferocity. She had, admittedly, forgotten to eat that day, and she was beginning to feel it now that she was actually putting something in her body... should have eaten sooner. Not that forgetting to eat was a new occurrence -- her body was used to running on nothing for days at a time because she got too distracted to eat.

Luckily, Rhona's body was almost more than capable of running on autopilot without the guidance of her mind, and she was able to chat with Jett along the way. How's Raven, I need to pop in and try out a new muffin recipe on her.
When can I see Chloe again you know she's my favorite person ever, I promise I won't bring a loud toy again. And while she spoke, Rhona's feet led the way without her mind and guided her and Jett along back roads and streets until they stopped right when they were supposed to. By then Rhona was finishing up her chips and shoving the bag into her pocket with the empty sandwich wrapper. She sighed as the old church came into view, burned in the back, clearly worse for the wear, but generally intact. Salvageable. Beautiful. Rhona wandered up the overgrown stone path and turned to face Jett.

"Here she is. The girl of my dreams." Rhona flattened her hand against the door, wood rough and scraping along her palm, but she didn't care. "Word has it there was a fire in the back -- electrical or something -- and the parish decided to build a new one instead of fix this one. I guess they're growing out of her anyway... want to build something closer to the residents..." Rhona smiled softly, fingering the hinges and the doorknob gingerly. "Now she's got no one to love her. Storm damage is going unfixed, the siding is falling off, but check this out."

Rhona pushed open the door, the thing giving way with a squeal of disapproval, and she stepped inside. Generally speaking... it was alright. the floors needed refinishing, the walls needed repairing, and the windows needed replacing but... it was doable. Rhona's boots made dull clunking sounds as she entered the foyer of the building, clearly a meeting space for parishioners who were arriving.
The walls still held the racks that may have housed bibles, pamphlets, and programs, though all they held now was dust. She pushed open another set of doors that lead to the sanctuary at large. Above them, the ceilings soared, beams exposed to create a beautiful interlocking pattern. Rhona strolled up the aisle, touching each remaining pew and said, "They only want ten thousand dollars for her... I'm going to buy her, Jett. Somehow. If I have to take out a hundred loans to do it, I will. Then when I do, I'm going to fix her up and give her new life..." Even as she spoke, Rhona knew it was a pipe dream. Her smile faded and she turned back to Jett once she reached the altar at the front of the room.

"It sounds silly but... I feel like she's calling out to me. We're both... the same, I think. She is what I was when I first joined you guys. Broken... abandoned. Looking for a second chance and I want to... I don't know, give it to her. Maybe start a... I dunno an indoor farmer's market... stop pickpocketing to make ends meet..." Her voice was dropping as she spoke, realizing how silly she sounded. What even was the point of bringing Jett here? Did she think that by telling someone else all of this it would have made it more realistic to own it? She didn't have any history at all. What bank was going to give her a loan that big?

Rhona sniffed suddenly, eyes watering from the dust and the cold and went to the other side of the altar, feeling the cool wood beneath her fingers.

"Oh, but isn't she just perfect? Imagine it," she suddenly rushed down from the ambulatory and began gesticulating wildly. "I can salvage most of these pews, aren't they darling? Seating and display! I'd make the ambulatory area a cafe, with pews for seating and matching tables. And then the rest of it I would make into the sales area. I can sell my crops from the warmer months fresh and then jarred later on. And I'd invite artisans from around the city to sell here too! I can have a big bazzar when I first open and vendors from all over can set up and sell, maybe sign on with me when they're done! I can section the place off for fresh foods, canned and jarred things, apparel, crafts, anything! And I'd keep the windows," Rhona paused before a stained glass depiction of a lion and a lamb. "Aren't they beautiful... The back where the offices are can be storage or... I don't know... a place for me... A new home that I can call my own... what do you think?"

Floor Plan

While Rhona was forever thankful for Jett and his pragmatism, it deflated her none the less. She stood at the altar, hands pressed against the rough and mottled wood trying to stop the escape of air through an unseen rupture. He was right, after all, and she couldn't deny it. The only money that Rhona had to her name was a couple hundred dollars under her mattress for emergencies. She didn't even have a bank account... she picked at a loose splinter of wood and flicked it aside when it came away between her fingers.

At least he was willing to play along... for that Rhona was also grateful.

"I only take what I need to survive. Never bills higher than twenties. Never jewelry. Never from the poor. Occasionally I take everything from criminals, but I never feel bad about that. If you beat a woman senseless you deserve to be left with nothing..." Rules that she'd put in place for herself a long time ago. She sighed finally, trying to drive the conversation away from her greyer deeds. "I'd rent out," she finally announced, plastering a smile across her lip as she turned back to face him. "It seems more... I don't know... fair than taking a cut of the profits? I just provide the space, the artisans do all the work. But then I guess it all comes from the same pot, so is there really a difference between renting and taking a percentage?

"Besides, I'd want it to be more like a co-op. Patrons can pay a small fee to be a part of a decision-making committee, which means that they'd have a say in what happened with the place. The more people buy into the place, the smaller the fee would be. That way the community can have a sense of ownership... this place belongs to everyone. Not just to me. Monthly fees from members would go into a fund for improvements, expansions, whatever the place would need." Maybe it sounded naive and utopian but could anyone really blame Rhona for that? After all, it was a bit of a pipe dream. But she bounced down the aisle none the less back to Jett's side and gazes up at the exposed beams in the ceiling.

"She could be stunning, you know. All she needs is a little bit of love."

The compliment was more than welcome, and she thanked him by lacing her arm through his affectionately. She rested her head on his shoulder and sighed happily, content right now to just imagine that she could do it and do it well. Flowers in the spring and summer. Harvests in the fall. Christmas in the winter. She'd hold events for major holidays. Maybe a Holiday village? In the back? Nah she'd till that all up for crops. She wouldn't need the communal plot anymore if she did that. And it'd smell so good so have all that soil upturned and exposed. The herbs in the hot sun. Bright flowers that she'd plant for pest control.

It sounded too good to be true.

It was too good to be true.

She released Jett's arm with a squeeze and sniffed, swallowing the lump in her throat.

"You keep talking like that," she croaked, trying to work through the crack in her voice, "and you might convince me to do something stupid. It's nice to know that you think it'd work though. Maybe someday." Maybe. Probably not though. But for as long as the church stood vacant and unattended, Rhona could believe that she'd be the one to make her whole again.

"Anyway. Let's get you back to work. I think I've kept you away long enough. I just wanted to show her to someone. Hopefully whoever buys her takes good care of her. doesn't just knock her down. I couldn't stand that..." Rhona shoved her hands into her pockets and made her way back down the aisle towards the front door. She'd visit her every day until she sold and who knew. Maybe she could get in on any restoration that might happen. She was a self made woman, she could learn any cosmetic skills that she would need.