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[polemical]

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you know the drill.

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[ccunningham]

[The phrasing gets another laugh and another head shake, though it's clear he's still amused as ever] I don't think that's exactly how it goes, but I don't blame you, there's two about coveting stuff your neighbor's got, there's no reason to have two of those.

[He gestures with one hand, not as emphatic as hers can get, but still there] Just like lying and bearing false witness, why are those two different things? They're just lying and then a very specific kind of lying.

[polemical]

[ She nearly makes a joke about him being her neighbor, calling back to their earlier kingdom discussion, but lets him talk over her inner monologue and lets the thought go. It's probably for the best. Chris does have a great ass, in her humble opinion, but he's got that runner's build and she knows that general consensus about that is that he looks skinny and almost frail.

She disagrees. Right now, her head's very close to Chris's thighs, and even through his pants she can tell how muscular he is. He's just not all puffed up like some of the other student athletes, the ones who've not so subtly asked her to get them steroids.

Which she refused to do, thank you. Eddie peddles grass, molly, maybe coke. She can get the harder stuff if she has to, but she's not going to go out of her way for Mike fucking Farnum. If he can't make it on the team then that's his own damn problem. ]

Exactly. It's so redundant. There should be a Commandment about harshing your neighbor's vibe or something. 'Thou shalt not be a total buzzkill.'

[ccunningham]

[And again she gets a laugh] 'Thou shalt do thy best not to be a dick', it would be so simple that way, you know? [He shakes his head] But we both know so many people who are already failing at just that much.

You would think that would be the easiest thing in the world, but apparently it just isn't.

[polemical]

'Thou shalt not be a dick,' seems like the building block for any functioning society, right? [ The world would be a much better place if that simple edict could be even partially followed, but it seems to be outside the scope of so many people's capabilities.

She sighs, her nails picking at the seam on Chris's knee like she didn't just scold herself to not do that any more. ]

What do you think about when you're sitting through the sermons on Sundays? [ Does he actually pay attention and meditate on the scripture being discussed, or does he let his mind wander? Eddie knows which option she'd choose, but that's different. ]

[ccunningham]

Usually I'm up in the choir loft trying not to miss any cues. [It's the truth, but not one he'd readily admit to most people because it would, somehow, find its way back to his mother if he did, but he knows there's a near-zero chance of that happening with Eddie.]

Sometimes I can actually listen though, and mostly it depends on the pastor, some of them are better at it than others.

[polemical]

Shut up. [ She grabs his knee properly instead of just fiddling with his pants, and lifts her head a little like she's about to sit up again. ] Oh my god, how did I not know you were in the choir? Do you have to wear a little robe?

[ The way her eyes gleam should make it pretty clear she thinks that's hilarious and desperately wants it to be true. ]

I didn't know you could sing!

[ccunningham]

I can. Not, like, well enough for a solo or anything, but I'm definitely, you know, in there, hidden behind everyone else in an ill-fitting robe, because yeah that's definitely part of it.

[He shakes his head] Pretty sure I'm just up there because Jeremy can't carry a tune in a bucket and someone has to represent the Cunninghams.

[polemical]

Chris. [ She rolls her lips between her teeth and bites down like she's physically restrainig herself from saying something else, either asking a question or making another incredulous statement. It's fine that she didn't know he was part of his church choir. Not everyone who does something musical makes it their whole personality, not like her.

But still. Still. ]

I gotta see that someday. [ It would require her actually, y'know, attending church. But it would be worth it. ]

[ccunningham]

[He considers for a moment] Midnight Christmas Eve service, only time we're really visible, otherwise we're up in the loft and only kind of visible behind the lattice.

[He shakes his head] I'm sure there's a reason for keeping the choir mostly out of sight, but I don't know what it is, never thought to ask.

[polemical]

Ew, midnight? [ She wrinkles her nose, like she doesn't regularly stay out past midnight, like she hasn't gone to shows where the headliner hasn't even hit the stage before one am.

Making a big show of tapping at her chin like she's thinking, she winks at him. ] Those dorky robes are too distracting. If they could see you, nobody in the congregation would be paying attention to the sermon.

[ccunningham]

Oh I'm sure that's exactly the reason. Has to be.

[He's struggling not to smile outright as he says it, though.] That might explain why we're down on the floor for the Christmas Eve service, though, plain robes for that.

[polemical]

[ Eddie rolls onto her side, propping her cheek up in her hand, her knees pulled up to press against Chris's. ]

What do they look like? I've only seen them in movies.

[ccunningham]

That's pretty much what they look like. [He shrugs] Costume suppliers probably order from the same wholesalers that actual churches do.

Christmas service robes are white though, gold curlicues on the edging. Guess we're supposed to be an angel choir or something. [It's still a struggle not to smile outright as he says it, partly because of her apparent fascination and partly because of the way she's deliberately keeping close.]

[polemical]

But, like, isn't ever church's different? Or are they really that standardized, like everyone across the whole country has to wear the same polyester sack. That's depressing.

[ To Eddie, the idea of that kind of conformity chafes for more than one reason, but she supposes it makes sense. Presumably church follows the same script every week, in pretty much every church — yes, she's aware enough to realize that Catholics and Baptists probably have pretty different services in terms of tone, if not content — so it makes sense that their uniform is standardized too.

Maybe she can get Chris to sew a patch on his robe or something. ]

An angel choir! [ She crows with laughter, nudging her knees hard into his to make him rock a little, her eyes sparkling with glee. ] You know, I can see it. [ Tapping her chin with her free hand again, she squints at him and then waves her hand around in the air like she's drawing a circle over his head. ] Yep. Makes perfect sense.

[ccunningham]

[His expression drifts to amused puzzlement at the initial question, but before he can actually answer she's having altogether too much fun with something that had always kind of vaguely annoyed him in a way he couldn't pin down, still can't, but her amusement is worth it and he just snorts softly, shaking his head even though his smile has emerged all over again] Yeah, yeah, laugh all you want, I don't even know if that's actually what it's for, that's just my best guess.

[An exaggerated shrug follows] And I haven't really had a chance to, you know, shop around and check out other congregations' choir robes, but I don't think they'd be that different, some churches get the name of the church embroidered on them, but apparently that's vanity, so we don't do that. [He shakes his head] Honestly though between you and me, I think it's just because we can't afford to have it done.

[polemical]

[ She'd probably stop laughing if it was clear Chris was actually upset; as it stands, since he's reluctantly smiling and all but rolling his eyes at her as she laughs, she lets herself indulge in her brief hysterics, wiggling a little on the bed as Chris shakes his head at her. ] I love it. Do you think you can steal one for Halloween? I have some devil horns around here somewhere, we could match.

[ Belatedly, she realized she just asked him to do a couple's costume with her for Halloween, an absolutely absurd notion, but it's too late to take back now. Hopefully he'll just think she's joking and dismiss the idea without actually considering it. ]

Oh, that's too bad. It would be funnier if you got your own name embroidered on them, though. Like name tags.

[ccunningham]

[He laughs then, shaking his head again] Our own names on them? That would be worse than vanity, that would just be tacky [Another head shake, still grinning and only barely managing not to laugh again] We're a church choir for Christ's sake, not a bowling team.

[He settles back on his hands again] Honestly it's because there's only like three sizes, so we probably end up wearing the same one as someone else, um, probably a lot more than I actually want to think about.

[polemical]

[ Well that makes her laugh even harder, Chris's emphasis on tacky feeling like the funniest thing in the world. She's pretty sure he's just quoting someone like his mom, but who knows. Maybe he does have really strong opinions on bowling teams. ]

Oh man. How often do you think they get washed?

[ccunningham]

[He is parroting, but only in tone and not in content, he's not the only one of the teens who will likely be leaving the church as soon as they're able, though in his case it's likely to be longer than some of them, and he's not sure what else he would do instead, but that's something to worry about later.

His nose wrinkles at the question, but it's amusement and not disgust] Weekly, that's part of the administration's duty roster. One of the new admin assistants 'forgot' one week and was gone before the following week.

[polemical]

[ She grins at him and waves a dismissive hand in his face. ] Well then in that case, you have nothing to worry about! Freshly washed weekly? Y'all are spoiled, is what you are.

[ Eddie spent the first ten years of her life down in North Carolina. Her accent has faded pretty significantly since she moved to the Midwest, but every now and then, a little Southern drawl will slip out, usually when she's drunk or high or really relaxed.

Or if she and Wayne are fighting. Then they just egg each other on. ]

[ccunningham]

[He smiles again, can't help it, that edge of a drawl is endearing as hell, as is the assessment itself, because she's probably not wrong on that] Well you're probably not wrong, but it does come with having to deal with my mom twice, since she's the assistant choir director and thinks she's chief admin, there isn't such a thing, but she's been there longest.

[polemical]

Oh no, does your mom make you help wash the robes when it's her turn or something?

[ The Cunninghams are rich enough that she's certain they have both a washing machine and a dryer, and pretty decent quality ones, too. That doesn't make doing laundry any easier, though, or at least that's what she's been told. The trailer just has a washing machine under the kitchen counter, and that thing is both tiny and ancient. Sometimes she just bites the bullet and hauls all her shit to the laundromat downtown, since then she can do it all at once.

And then she also doesn't have to hang her underwear and bras on a line out back. ]

[ccunningham]

[He shakes his head] No, god no, it's a cleaning service that does it, they do the altar cloths and stuff too but that's less often, those have to be done a specific way, kind of like showing the proper respect to the flag? So they usually throw in robe cleaning at a discount.

[As a point of fact they do have both a washer and a dryer, and more than that: Chris actually knows how to use them, and not in a 'just dump everything in and wash it on hot' way.]

[polemical]

[ Eddie's eyes are bright and interested as Chris explains the minutiae of altar cloth cleaning, an aspect of church life she had never considered. It makes sense, she supposes, that there's a ritual for that, too, since church seems to be made up entirely of rituals. ]

Do they, like, say a prayer over the washing machine before they put everything in? [ She sounds honestly curious, not like she's making fun of the idea. Well. She does sound a little amused, she can't hide that, but it's not coming from a place of malice. ] They don't have to do it all by hand, do they?

[ccunningham]

You know, I don't actually know? [His brow furrows, it seems like the kind of thing he should know, but it's just never come up. He knows what company does it and that's all he's needed to know] I think it's more like dry cleaning, though, at least for the linens, the choir robes are the finest polyester and can hit the spin cycle no problem.