Chapter Text
Lars loved the church, but not the people who were there. Oh, not that he thought they were unpleasant—no. The people in his village had always supported him, no matter what. But being around so many people during mass made physical contact inevitable. And that made him terribly anxious.
Still, he loved the church—its wooden seats, its stained-glass windows, and its flowers. And the photo of Bianca looking down at him from the altar. It was a calm, quiet, solemn place. Few people went there outside of Sunday mass, so Lars would go on Saturdays, or sometimes even in the evening, when he wanted to avoid a dinner at his brother and Karin’s house—especially since their baby had been born.
It was also in this church that he had met the mayor—Damien. The town had recently gotten a new mayor, a few months earlier. Lars never listened to these kinds of things. Anything to do with politics was a source of conflict among people, so he preferred to stay out of it.
But Mayor Damien was kind—truly kind. Lars had had the chance to talk to him several times, usually after mass, and he’d been able to see that for himself. The whole town adored him, and he seemed to adore everyone in return.
Lars slipped onto a seat in the front row, a spot that gave him a good view of the church altar. From there, he looked at Bianca, her face framed by the four edges of a gilded wood. Her smile, eternally gentle, didn’t resonate with Lars’s own face. She would be there forever, frozen in happiness, while he would carry on, shaped by time and the people around him. It was a thought he preferred to avoid, especially when he was alone, but his mind couldn’t help but return to it. He missed Bianca.
He knew he would miss her for a long time. He had felt more at ease with her than he ever had before, even if it had only been for a few months. And he suspected he would never find that sense of comfort again.
Lars clasped his hands together and closed his eyes for a moment. He didn’t say a specific prayer, but he remained that way until the sound of the door opening snapped him out of his thoughts. He sat up abruptly, tense on his bench. He quickly put his gloves back on before turning toward the newcomer.
His eyes first fell on the man’s black suit and the white flower adorning his lapel, then he looked up at his face and recognized him. It was Damien. Lars relaxed as the mayor approached him, without sitting down on the bench.
“Good afternoon, Lars. It has been a while.”
Lars shrugged slightly. It was true that they hadn’t seen each other since Bianca’s death. Lars had withdrawn for a while after that, before settling back into a somewhat more normal routine.
“I’m truly sorry for your loss. Bianca was a great person to this community.”
Lars nodded.
“I’m glad to see that you seem to be doing better. I ran into Karin earlier; she told me about you.”
“Did she?”
Lars looked up, but didn’t quite meet his gaze yet. There was something impressive about Damien—not that it made him uncomfortable, but he was quite charismatic.
“Do you mind if I take a seat?”
Lars wanted to refuse, to keep his personal space, but automatically, he nodded. Damien set his cane down beside him and slid onto the bench. However, contrary to what Lars had expected, he left a wide space between them.
They sank back into silence. But it wasn’t such an uncomfortable silence, Lars thought to himself. His gaze lingered for a moment on Bianca’s portrait before turning toward the mayor. He watched him out of the corner of his eye, hoping he wasn’t looking back. But Damien, even if he had noticed, didn’t move.
A faint smile that never seemed to leave his lips played on his face, but Lars wondered if he was truly happy. It looked more like a polite expression; he was the mayor, after all. However, whether it was fake or not, his expression was reassuring.
“You must get busy, as the mayor.”
Ah, he really was bad with small talk. What kind of tasteless question was that ? He might as well stay quiet. Luckily, Damien didn’t seem to mind. His smile grew a little wider and he turned to him.
“I do, but I have very competent people by my side. This town is rather lovely, isn’t it ?”
Lars couldn’t disagree.
“I didn’t grow up here, but I spent most of my life in this place,” he murmured. “Everyone is very sweet. Especially elders.”
Damien nodded. Lars knew he had only arrived in town a year or two earlier, but he had quickly won the affection of the locals. The men found him charismatic, the women found him gentle, and the elders found him polite. Lars had spoken with Damien several times, mostly before meeting Bianca. Although he didn’t particularly like talking about himself, Lars found it easy to converse with Damien. The man didn’t mind when he stayed quiet.
“It’s nice to see you again, Lars. I must admit I missed your company.”
Lars froze for a split second before turning back to Damien. The mayor was already looking at him.
“You did?” he said, dumbfounded.
“Mm. I appreciate being with you. It’s… quite rare that I get to enjoy such calm moments, especially since I became mayor.”
Lars looked down for a moment. He clenched his hands in his pockets and tucked his chin into the collar of his jacket. He felt a little guilty now. Damien had been nothing but kind to him, but he hadn’t given him anything in return. They’d spoken several times, though, but Lars never knew what to say. He didn’t know how to show interest in others.
“I’m sorry that we couldn’t see each other.”
“Oh, Lars, it’s alright. I didn’t mean to accuse you of anything. I know losing Bianca might have been very hard.”
Lars hummed. He’d rather not talk about it, but he stayed quiet.
Then Damien seemed to hesitate. His hand fiddled with the handle of his cane for a moment as his gaze wandered over the stained-glass windows higher up on the church walls. Several patches of colored light fell across his face and hair.
“I was thinking that maybe we could go for a walk together, one afternoon or one evening. We could go by the lake, as it is very calm out there,” he finally said.
“Oh,” was all that Lars could muster.
Damien turned to him and looked at him so expectantly that Lars felt terribly bad for wanting to say no. Not that he would dislike the mayor’s company, far from it, but he knew that not even one hour away from his house would make him miss his comfort terribly. It happened every day at work, although it has started to get better now that he was friends — if he could consider it so — with Margo.
But Damien’s smile was so sweet, so gentle, and he waited so patiently for his answer that he caved in.
“Yes, I… Why not. The lake is nice.”
The mayor’s smile grew even wider and sunnier that Lars felt blinded, and part of his regret disappeared.