Collaboration between YoshiSkittlez and Ghost Shadow
--
[center][img=http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Arts/Arts_/Pictures/2007/03/20/johnsimm372.jpg][/center]
It took Mark a few more minutes than usual to get from Granny's to the town square as Grip felt the need to investigate and/or urinate on every new sight and smell he encountered. Mark kept up the pace, though, and managed to make it to the nunnery in good time - walking past an...almost pleased looking Mr. Gold, who whistled quite a merry tune while strolling past the building. 

"That can't be good." Mark commented to no-one-in-particular, a certain sense of dread to his tone. 

He tied Grip's leash to another lamp-post before heading inside, looking for Mother Superior. The woman hadn't budged from her position on the patio infront of the church, her head face-down in her gloved hands as she tried to keep from crying.

Mark stepped out onto the patio, his eyes instinctively doing a quick sweep of the area (habit from being a fireman) before landing on the head nun, who appeared quite distressed. 

He stood still for a moment, unsure of how to go about this before approaching slowly, his face...empathetic, for once. 

"Mother Superior, what happened?" He asked concernedly, his eyes narrowing as a theory entered his mind. "Did Mr. Gold do something to you?" He added on, looking almost upset himself. There's a special place in hell for someone who makes nuns cry. 

The tiny woman jumped at Mark's voice, startled to have someone approach her in such a vulnerable position. She quickly wiped the tears from her eyes and forced on a smile.

"Oh, oh no, no...he didn't do anything." She tried to assure both herself and Mark with a couple awkward placed nods. "It was just...just a friendly reminder."

Mark quite plainly didn't believe her, tapping his foot on the floor almost rhythmically. "A reminder for what?" He asked gravely, though his eyes remained soft. 

"We..." Mother Superior fidgeted with her fingers, struggling to find the right words that wouldn't make Mr. Gold angry in anyway. God knew he had eyes and ears everywhere. "...we were late on last months rent, and as penance, this month's rent has been doubled..."

"Doubled?!" Mark repeated in utter disbelief. It had taken a lot of effort to pay up last month's rent, let alone twice the amount. 

He began pacing about the porch, apparantly thinking hard for a solution. "What...what can we do?" He asked, stopping to look at her again. 

Mother Superior blinked...twice.

"W-we?" She asked. "Oh Mr. Dufresne, don't trouble yourself with our problems. We'll manage. We...we have candles to sell this year, as we did last year. We'll manage..." The shakiness in her voice revealed, however, they wouldn't.

Mark turned his head to look out at the crowds enjoying the festivities of Miner's Day, his expression turning indifferent and cold for a moment before softening as he turned to Mother Superior again. 

"There's enough people out there...I'll see about getting some volunteers and going about the town." As if to emphasize, he placed a firm but gentle hand on her shoulder. "I'll make sure the nunnery stays open, even if I have to buy them all myself." He said with resolve, looking fully confident. 

"I-" Mother Superior struggled to meet Mark's gaze, her cheeks flushing from not embarassment, but in gratitude for the kind hearted man standing in front of her. "Thank you..." She finally decided upon, her smile easing into that of becoming genuine. "We sold fourty three last year, this year, if we're to meet Mr. Gold's price...we need to sell them all...by tonight."

Mark nodded sharply, unable to help a smile of his own peeking through - warm, friendly, [i]human[/i]. 

"I'll check Granny's first, it'll get done!" He said one last time before quite hastily making his way out of the church: he had a *lot* of work to do.