Elijah held up a hand carefully. "I know. I figured that out last time we met. You and I can never be friends, and I know you certainly wouldn't care to be after today. You are my priest and nothing more. I just had to speak to you, for your benefit. But do not worry, I try to ignore such thoughts as soon as they come to me. I do not dwell on it. I keep you at arm's length as much as possible, including mentally...' That may have been a tiny bit of a lie but he didn't want Gabriel to worry about himself around Elijah at all.

Yeah, and the knowledge that Elijah was attracted to him was definitely not going to help suppress those masturbation fantasies. "We... I care, Mr. Crane. We cannot be ordinary friends, but I care." He looked at the other man intently.

Elijah looked at the man before him
His eyes were intense and it made him blush. "Silly way to say we can't be friends by saying ordinary friends.." he looked away almost shyly.

Gabriel sighed and looked away, frustrated. "It means..." He sighed again. "I want to help you. I want you to feel better, and live a good and happy life..."

Elijah shook his head and smiled. "Than you are just being a considerate priest, not friends. I feel that way for almost everyone in town I pass. Even the drunks that I sometimes have to help get home or they start a fight and I put them in a cell for the night. I want the best for them and for them to improve their lives. I do not think of them as friends, though I do think of them as good people in a bad place."

Gabriel looked down. Then he nodded and looked at Elijah again. How could he express to Elijah that he couldn't help it? That he wanted to be friends? More than friends? "I suppose. Just know... If I wasn't the priest of this parish... well... I think you would have made an excellent friend, Mr. Crane..."

Elijah looked up and smiled sadly. "If you weren't the priest.. you wouldn't even be here."

Gabriel returned a sad smile. "True..." Yet in that moment, how he wished he wasn't a priest.

Elijah smiled sadly. "I wish you were allowed just.. a little change to be more.. human. I know you do it for the church more than anything. It's just.. I do agree.. I wish we could be friends. You have helped me so much, I've never had a chance to repay you."

Gabriel swallowed something hard. How he longed, craved even. He used to have an explanation for why rules were they way they were. He could not remember them. He cast his eyes down and remained silent. The love of Christ should be enough. The support of the church should be enough. The gratitude of the people he ministered to should be enough. But there was such a longing.