StV: Fellow Catholics

"Hey, Cat," said Maria, sitting down across from her teammate and opening her laptop. 

Cat was reading Small Unit Tactics, which might have been part of her studies or just something she'd decided to look into. With everything that was going on, Maria was a little jealous that she hadn't thought of it first. She didn't look irritated at the interruption though, smiling as she said, "Maria." 

"You're Catholic, aren't you?"

Cat made a yes-and-no gesture. "My parents are. I'm not very observant, myself." She eyed Maria suspiciously. "Why?"

"Um," said Maria. "I could use some advice." 

"Wow. You have definitely come to the wrong place," Cat told her, but she was smiling slightly as she said it. "All right, Catholic Advice. Approach and be enlightened, Novice Maria. I bring the wisdom of the nuns teaching at St. Peter's primary school, but without the rulers."

Maria chuckled and settled back, strangely relaxed. Catarina Montoya -- Nightfall when they were out in the field -- was... maybe not a close friend, but somebody Maria trusted. If anybody would know where she was coming from, it was Cat. "So, if I found myself irresistibly attracted to somebody -- a boy -- to the point where just being around him was a temptation to sin, what would  the Church expect of me? I'm supposed to avoid temptation, right?"

Cat blew out a breath. "All right. You and I both know that the Church teaches that celibacy is the ideal. If you can't remain celibate, you're supposed to get married because sex isn't a sin if it takes place within the bonds of matrimony."

"Yeah," said Maria. "That's the problem. I'm seventeen; I'm not getting married yet. I've been trying to stay away from the guy, and ignore him when I can't, but... Damn it, I'd like to at least be friends with him, and avoiding him because I really like him just seems... backwards." 

Cat shrugged. "Yeah. Because the Church is very clear about what it expects, but what it expects isn't realistic. 'Be celibate, or get married before having sex' just isn't how people work. And I'd be a hypocrite to support it."

There was a momentary pause as Maria processed that. "You...?"

"Yeah," Cat told her. "I wanted to see what it was like, saw an opportunity, and took it."

"So what was it like?"

"Honestly? It was good. There was a lot of fumbling around, but we took our time and listened to each other, and it... well, it went pretty well. But you don't have to jump in like that. There are all kinds of intermediate stages, remember."

Maria half-shook her head. "I'll have to think about that. Thank you."

"Sure," said Cat, and went back to her reading.