vespers

Rehearsal is wrapped for the day, and Papa is already gone to prepare for the evening service. Most of the ghouls shuffle out of the hall to follow him, the ones that have already attended services earlier in the day peel off to help the Sisters prepare the dining hall.

Phantom hates Vespers, although since he's been summoned it's been hard not to hate everything. It's been a difficult adjustment to life on the surface. He feels out of sync on the best of days, a waste of space on the worst.

Early on, Papa had placed him under the care of Dew and Rain, and that was where Phantom found himself most often: sandwiched between the pair while they spoke to each other over him. Even in the pews of the chapel, he had to strain to follow Papa's voice over the whispers back and forth.

(Someone once told Phantom that Dew was one of the more devout ghouls in the abbey, and everyday he wonders if they were fucking with him.)

Vespers passes more slowly than usual, and Phantom can feel himself falling asleep. Other quintessence ghouls in the abbey are permitted to follow their nocturnal instincts, but as a member of the Ghost Project, he's required to stay awake during the day with the rest of the ghouls. It just results in him not sleeping, except for the naps he can steal if he manages to finish his tasks for the ministry early.

Papa finishes the service and dismisses the assembly to dinner, where no doubt he'll be asked to lead another long-winded prayer of thanksgiving. Phantom waits back while the chapel empties and then walks himself in the opposite direction of the crowd. He doesn't care if his stomach is growling. If he's going to keep up with performing, he needs to crash before his second wind forces him up for the night. He makes it back to his room, and before he can even take his boots off, he's asleep on top of the covers.

Hours later and it's dark out. There's laughter from the common room. Phantom stretches and notices that someone has draped a blanket over him. They've taken his boots off and placed them in front of his wardrobe. There's a plate of food on the nightstand, and a reminder that he's welcome the join the rest of them whenever he's up to it.

mattins - lauds