[004] Let me be your everlasting light

[themuseabandonsyou]

Who: Orpheus (themuseabandonsyou)
What: February Catch-all
When: Throughout February
Where: Earworm, Willful Machine, Cellar Door

Warnings: Potential mild sexual/suggestive content, mild body horror (partial beasthood), giant worm/slug being, background use of drugs/alcohol, discussion of NPC death (trampling), mild blood, transformative magical effects


I. Your sun when there is none
( cw: Potential mild sexual/suggestive content, mild body horror (partial beasthood), giant worm/slug being, background use of drugs/alcohol ) ( closed to Vyng and Eurydice )

The descent into Earworm from the aboveground entrance is... a little nervewracking! As a rule Orpheus tries to stay away from being underground whenever possible these days, but he guesses if Lady Bop really wanted to build her club miles deep that's sort of her prerogative? It's a sacrifice he's willing to make for the sake of trying to figure out how to make life her a little safer, at least, though as he, Vyng, and Eurydice descend he seems deeply torn at all times between wanting to glance at his wife to check on her and very much not wanting to do that. It's fine, he knows, but years of nightmares about being in the dark of the underground with her have taken their toll.

In any case, when they do finally make it there - sooner than Orpheus expected but also not nearly soon enough - and the doors to the great cavernous expanse of the club itself swing open, they're met with a veritable wall of noise. Orpheus flinches away from it, but somehow it seems to adjust down to more manageable levels, fading gently until it's a more tolerable sort of loud. Glancing around, he tries to take in as much of it as he can at a first look. It's a little hard to pay attention to much else other than the gigantic, sluglike being from which all the music seems to be emanating, though, and Orpheus stares for a long moment before trying to get the rest of his bearings. The club isn't as busy as it could be, but there's still quite a few citizens dancing and sitting in booths and at the bar for this early in the day, being served by similarly sluggy people carrying trays of drinks and bar food. The doorways lining the back wall are what catch his attention, though, posters and signs portraying people in various states of beasthood posing suggestively and winking or blowing kisses at the viewer.

He looks to Eurydice and Vyng. "Let's split up?" he says, loud enough to be heard over the throbbing percussion of Lady Bop's current song. "We'll meet up later and talk about what we find."

And with that, absolutely failing to elaborate on what he means by 'later,' he makes his way off in the direction of the stage, disappearing into the crowd. About an hour passes before he bumps into either Vyng or Eurydice again.

"I couldn't get an audience with Lady Bop?" he says, pulling them aside. "But I did talk to a few of the dancers! Oh, but what did you find?"

(There is, of course, also nothing stopping them from reconvening before Orpheus turns up again.)

II. I'm a shepherd for you
( closed to Manabu )

Orpheus does a fair amount of wandering, most days. He doesn't tend to work until afternoon and evening, entertaining at various cafes and bars in Cellar Door, but he's always been an early riser, so that tends to leave his mornings fairly open once he gets done with his chores around the house. To his credit, he has been much more careful about where he wanders recently, sticking to crowded-but-not-too-crowded thoroughfares and keeping Eurydice updated on his location via the Omni regularly, and is just taking a blurry photograph of an interesting looking storefront in Willful Machine for her when he nearly bumps into Manabu.

"Oh!" he says, backing up and fumbling with the Omni so as not to drop it before stuffing it back into his pocket. "Hi, Manabu! It's nice to see you again."

Sidestepping to get out of the way of the foot traffic and gesturing for the other man to follow, he beams, obviously pleased to see his friend again.

"What have you been up to recently? It's been a little while, hasn't it?"

III. And I'll guide you through
( cw: discussion of NPC death (trampling) ) ( OTA )

Another day means yet more wandering, and is proving to be mostly uneventful and sort of dreary to the point where Orpheus is considering turning around and going back home for risk of rain, right up until he spots them.

By all appearances, they're just a random Trenchie, all dressed in black frills and silver accents, but Orpheus stops dead in his tracks when he sees them, eyes flickering with a faint glow like an animal's eyes in the dark. They don't notice him staring at first, but it's hard to ignore when he darts across the street - forcing a horse-drawn carriage to stop short and takes them by the shoulders. The world around him seems to grow dimmer, shades of night drawing in and more reflective, subtle pinpoints of light like distant bestial eyes appear around him in pairs, all focused on the poor confused citizen as he begins to sing, almost frantically.

"In the mud and under hoof
Is where the bitter end will come
Try to tame them but they'll prove
More than your your efforts' greatest sum

The herd knows you are watching
The herd knows your intent
The herd has been so patient
But the last of it is spent

In the blood and under hoof
Is where the bitter end will come
The stallion that gets loose
Will end your days under the sun"

The Trenchie looks, rightfully, absolutely terrified by all this. Maybe someone should intervene.

IV. Let me be your everlasting light
( cw: mild blood, transformative magical effects ) ( OTA )

Ordinarily even Orpheus would be sort of wary about the notion of taking candy from eldritch strangers in exchange for his blood - he's trusting, but he's not that bad - but there is not anything remotely ordinary about the Chocolatier. As it stands, he winds up with a very small box of chocolates, and less blood in him than before, which he does feel a little bit worried about now that the strange figure is gone, actually, but there's no turning back now, he guesses? Curious and also feeling a little woozy after all of that, he considers one carefully before nibbling at it, intending to savor it like he tries to do with all sweets.

It's gone before he knows it, though, and with it comes an odd prickling sensation all over his skin. He looks down at his hands, watching as his fingernails elongate and thicken into hooked talons and the skin of his hands and forearms grow leathery and scaly. Feathers start to unfurl from his skin, along his upper arms and chest and cheekbones, and he feels a sudden pressure at his back growing stronger by the second - prompting him to hurriedly strip out of his jacket and shirt before a pair of large brown wings unfurl from his shoulders. He blinks, startled, before starting to laugh.

"Oh! It's this again," he says to himself, kicking off his shoes so as to avoid them being destroyed by more talons coming in. He seems in good spirits about it, and that continues as he makes his way to one of Cellar Door's parks, whistling a cheerful melody to himself.

V. Wildcard
T( OTA )

[ OOC: Want something else? Feel free to add me at questionableveracity on plurk or message me at quodVide#2951 on Discord!! ]

Comments

[demonicbeauty]

She sat beside him automatically, straddling the ledge with one foot on the roof, the other dangling over the side. "There are nineteen of them. It could take all day and all night!"

Which was both a joke and true at the same time.

Ten years with all of them. That was what? One hundred and ninety years of memory? Not that all of it had been noteworthy. In fact, a lot of her early life had been mundane, which was part of the reason why she always wanted more, always wanted to go...beyond.

Much to her mother's eternal consternation.

"My oldest brother was named Galen," she said quietly. "A lot like Dean Winchester. Felt like he always had the weight of the world on his shoulders. He took being the oldest very seriously, although it doesn't mean much in an Alastrian litter. It doesn't really mean anything at all."

[themuseabandonsyou]

"Oh, I hadn't thought of that," says Orpheus, seriously, the joke going a little over his head, too. "It's hard to know where to start talking about people you love though, isn't it?"

And where to stop. But Airy seems to pick up the thread anyway, and he listens intently.

"I don't think I've met Dean Winchester," he says, frowning a little in thought. The name sounds familiar, but - "Oh! That's Sam's brother, though, right?"

The man who was possessed by Lucifer. Or the man who wasn't possessed by Lucifer, in another time and place. Orpheus still doesn't know how to feel about the second one, but the first had been kind to him in the wake of everything.

[demonicbeauty]

"Yes!" she said cheerfully. "Sam's brother!"

It was hard to ignore the fact that Ariadne had taken a considerable shine to the whole Winchester family. They were probably the last folks anyone would have ever expected her to befriend, but as Dean sometimes said, family didn't end in blood.

And it clearly didn't begin with it either.

Anyway, they'd kept her safe as Deerington slowly imploded in on itself. And she would never forget that kindness that loyalty. It made them the closest to her people. Even if both Sams were gone.

"Oh, you must meet him, Orpheus! He's such a good man! And he likes music!"

[themuseabandonsyou]

"I'd love to!" says Orpheus, brightly, picking up on Airy's fondness right away. If she likes him so much, he must be a wonderful person. "Maybe you could introduce us? Or I'm sure we'll run into each other eventually! It's a big city, but us Sleepers seem sort of drawn to each other, sometimes? It's strange."

And maybe it's just a coincidence. Certainly it's not pronounced enough that it couldn't be one. But it could be the will of the Fates, too. It's never easy to determine that kind of thing.

"But, I think it's nice that you have someone here, who reminds you of your brother like that? Like having a piece of him with you, in a way."

[demonicbeauty]

She nodded. Truthfully, one of the things she liked best about the multiverse (and there were many) was this unexpected opportunity she'd found to sort of...build her own family. Yes, back in Valeria, she'd cobbled together something of a family with Aunt Lysia, Tahafra, and Princess Amanda. But this was so wildly different. It felt more adult.

Which made sense, of course. She was an adult now. In April, she'd be twenty one!

...somehow, that felt very old to her.

"What about your brothers and sisters?" she asked, tilting her head to one side like a sparrow. "With an immortal mother, you must have some?"

[themuseabandonsyou]

"Oh, um..." Orpheus's smile falters, noticeably. This is a bit of an awkward subject for him, and he chews his lip for a moment before answering. "I don't know. I've never met any of them. I'm sure I must have some? Or had some, if they lived and died before me. But my mom never told me about them."

She'd had her way of brushing off questions about their family whenever they came up, to the point where Orpheus had just sort of learned not to ask. He frowns, thinking about it now. Certainly his mother had spoken fondly of many of the men (and women) she'd given inspiration to over her long life, but if any of them were lovers or fathers to her other children, he doesn't know. He doesn't even know who his father is, or if he even has one. It's possible she just... decided to have him, with no help from anyone else. Goddesses do that sometimes.

But that's getting off track, and Orpheus forces himself back onto the subject of - what were they talking about again? Right, brothers or sisters. He shakes his head and puts his smile back on. It's only a little forced.

"But, I have met a lot of my cousins? One of them is even here, in Trench! I could tell you about some of them, if you want." There, that's a bright side to look on, in all of this.

[demonicbeauty]

The way his expression flickered was unmistakable. The way that Princess Tranns or Prince Aden would darken on the subject of family. She instantly regretted the question. But seeing as she couldn't take it back, she supposed the best thing to do was go forward.

But not without acknowledging her blunder.

She leaned forward, giving Orpheus a gentle hug. "I'm sorry," she said.

And left it at that. Because there was nothing worse than pity. Especially between friends.

"But yes, please tell me about your cousins!"

[themuseabandonsyou]

Orpheus accepts the hug gracefully, patting her on the back before letting her go. He nods at the apology, still smiling a little sadly.

"It's okay," he says. "But - my cousins, right. There were two of them back in Deerington - one, Nico, you already met? He went with us to Cynthia Sodder's grave. I think he woke up from the dream, though."

At the very least, there had come a point where he just couldn't find the younger boy anywhere, and that was well before the great migration to Trench.

"The other one came with us here. Her name is Clarisse, and she's very honest, and a great warrior. She's always seems to say exactly what's on her mind." Which is a polite way of saying that she's extremely blunt, but Orpheus does genuinely appreciate not having to guess at that kind of thing, in addition to his generally trying to see the best in people.

[demonicbeauty]

She remembered Nico. And she remembered feeling very angry at Sodder for pulling someone so young into Deerington. She always felt that way about the younger Sleepers. They weren't ready for this.

Clarisse, though. That was an unfamiliar name.

"The best warriors," she said, "tend to be kind of incautious with their words, I think. Probably because they spend more time fighting battles with their bodies, rather than with their words." No shame in it. One person couldn't be expected to perfect every single art out there.

Ariadne herself was terrible when it came to using swords. But terrific at hand-to-hand, if the situation called for it.

"You'll have to introduce me," she said.

[themuseabandonsyou]

"I guess that's true, for a lot of them," says Orpheus, his mind wandering to the Argonauts - many of them his uncles and cousins and most of them extremely rowdy and incautious. "I think some of it it comes with the confidence that kind of, um, martial skill can bring."

The cockiness, he means. But he's too polite to put it that way. And he does mean it fondly, at least in the cases he's thinking of here and now.

"If I get the chance, I will! I don't see her too often, but I'd like for us to be closer. She's family, and it's, um. It's a little hard sometimes, being one of only three? No, four people here who remember the gods of our world."

He almost forgot Kassandra for a moment - the woman who killed Cerberus. While they'd come to the conclusion that the two of them might not be from the exact same world, it was still reassuring knowing her, too. But in any case, it's been a weird adjustment, thinking about being so far from the influence of the beings that literally shaped every inch of what was his reality for most of his life. Having others around who know them, even if not as intimately as he does, is reassuring.

[demonicbeauty]

"I understand," she said.

She understood too well. After all, she was the only one who remembered her own gods. The only one who practiced Mudorism. The only one who even knew what it meant to believe in them. Which, she supposed, ought to make her feel incredibly lonely. But Ariadne was always quiet in her faith. It was deeply personal, probably because she'd chosen the Triad over the gods of her mother. And not to spite her mother. Just because she needed to believe in hope.

So, yes. She understood.

Ariadne gave him a smile, bowing her head. "And, of course, I still need to meet the famous Eurydice."

[themuseabandonsyou]

Orpheus nods, smiling - sad and sympathetic. He figured she would, being the only person here to his knowledge from her world of origin and even if not, very probably the only Alastrian. He doesn't want to comment on how lonely that must be though, figuring it would only dredge up negative emotions.

In any case, the mere mention of his wife brightens him up significantly.

"You do!" he says, beaming. His feathers ruffle slightly, puffing up in with a pleased satisfaction and sense of comfort just thinking about her. "She's been busy since we got here? It's a lot of work, putting a new home together, even with two people gathering furniture and things for the kitchen and whatever else. But I'm sure we could all find a time to meet soon!"

[demonicbeauty]

Ariadne bowed her head. "I would like that, very much."

She certainly had to be something. And Ariadne was also curious. What exactly did a household look like, to them? It felt like the closest she could get to seeing his world. A little peek into domesticity.

Domestic bliss, even.

[themuseabandonsyou]

"Maybe we can invite you over to have dinner with us, sometime," says Orpheus, brightly. "What kinds of foods do you like? I, um. I'm a lot better at cooking now than I was when we tried to make that pudding, back in Deerington."

He rubs at the back of his neck, smiling sheepishly at the memory - though that particular incident had been less a problem with his cooking skills than it had been with trouble understanding the directions. He has learned some things here, though, from hanging around the kitchens of the various venues where he plays and asking questions, though, and feels the need to reassure Airy of that fact before offering to cook for her.

[demonicbeauty]

Without meaning to, Ariadne dissolved into a fit of giggles. "The pudding!" She tried to stuff her fingers into her mouth, to shut herself up. But it was just too funny. Gods, she'd never been in such a good mood. At least, not for a very, very long time. And yet, here she was, with her wings, sitting with a dear friend, remembering a total disaster in the kitchen.

That had been awful.

Yet, somehow, not unexpectedly so. She had warned him she was a menace in the kitchen.

"Gods, definitely not pudding," she said, her shoulders shaking with delight. "I don't think I can ever look at pudding the same way again."

[themuseabandonsyou]

"Definitely not," Orpheus agrees. Such an embarrassing waste of what had been perfectly good food before they'd gone and messed it up. At least they can both laugh about it now. Orpheus isn't sure he's ever seen Airy this light-hearted about anything, and they've been friends for a fairly long while now.

"I can come up with something else, though, I'm sure. The kinds of food that you can get easily here are kind of different than I'm used to? But I've been learning how best to use it. Most of what I know how to make right now is still stew, though."

Which is, of course, ever-respectable and practical, but not the most exciting thing to invite a guest over for. He frowns a little, before shaking it off. It's probably okay. He's pretty sure Airy wasn't exactly friends with him for his prowess in the kitchen to begin with.

[demonicbeauty]

"You know what I really like?" she said, leaning back on her palms. "All the different kinds of bread that Humans have come up with. There are just so many of them. And they all taste just a little bit different!"

You couldn't blame her. Ariadne had grown up in the forest, eating only the raw foods available to her and the rest of the litter. And while she wasn't complaining, boy, when she saw cooked food for the first time...it had been a revelation.

People thought bread was something simple. But it really wasn't. Before she was banned from the palace kitchens, she used to watch the bakers knead and roll out the dough. So many things went into what was considered such a basic staple.

It was like magic!

[themuseabandonsyou]

"Oh! It's true, there really are a lot of different kinds, aren't there? I don't really know much about baking, though."

He hums to himself, head cocked to the side slightly as he thinks back to an old memory.

"There used to be a woman in the town where I grew up who baked bread for basically everyone in town. She only knew how to make a couple different kinds, but she was really good at it. She said the secret was precision - knowing the exact amounts of every ingredient to use, and when to add each and how much to mix them. She did show me how to make biscuits once, though, and that was easier than the other kinds? I could try that again!"

They're - sort of of bread. They're bready. Bread adjacent. Not quite as magical as the alchemy of yeast and sugar and warmth, but still pretty good. He just has to find a recipe that's close enough to what he remembers that he won't mess it up.

[demonicbeauty]

"Precision." Not exactly something either of them knew much about in the kitchen. Judging from the pudding fiasco. But then, suddenly, Ariadne realized something. "It's a little like alchemy! Baking, I mean! I know Varian talks about precision."

And he needed to be careful.

Some of the compounds he played with were dangerous, after all.

"I wonder if he knows anything about baking. Maybe he could teach us a thing or two."

If he wasn't busy making his own mess.

[themuseabandonsyou]

Orpheus looks a little confused at the connection before Airy explains and it sinks in properly.

"You're right! I've never thought of it that way before, but it is, isn't it? And actually, I have seen Varian bake all sorts of things before." In retrospect, he's not sure how it hadn't occurred to him sooner. "We could definitely ask him about it at some point. I can't really speak for him? But I wouldn't be surprised if he was willing to help! He seems to really like sharing knowledge."

It's one of the many reasons Orpheus likes him so much. A lot of people who are very smart tend to sort of talk down to him a little bit, even when they aren't trying to, but Varian's always been good about doing his best to explain things that are obvious to him without being rude about it. Sometimes even then Orpheus has trouble understanding what he's being told, but he tries, and that counts for a lot.

[demonicbeauty]

"If there's one thing I know about alchemists, it's that they love to talk about alchemy." Surely, baking couldn't be all that different. And Varian was just so friendly. So open and giving.

Even when he was hurting.

Maybe especially when he was hurting. He carried his guilt around, but he didn't let it stop him from...anything.

"We'll ask," she decided.

[themuseabandonsyou]

"I think it takes a lot of passion to become an alchemist," says Orpheus. "Or a baker. There's so many different things you have to keep track of. Though I guess the same is true about getting really good at most things?"

In a way, he guesses invention and alchemy might not be all that different from music and composition, in a way. The rules may differ, but he imagines the path through learning them through dedication and experimentation could be very similar.

"Anyway, I've seen him make some really complicated things before. He's really good at it! But we should probably ask him if there's something simple we could start with."

[demonicbeauty]

"The simpler, the better," she agreed. Because that pudding had been an atrocity. And even with Varian's guidance, Ariadne still doubted her abilities. There were things she was good at. Painfully good at. It seemed only natural there would be certain things she could never do. And that was simply the way it was meant to be. It ensured that people needed other people.

She stretched her legs out, one at a time. Her wings were eager, anxious to take to the sky again.

But first...

"Are you going to be all right, Orpheus?" she asked. And she made a vague gesture to his numerous transformations.

Want to wrap this up in a few tags?

[themuseabandonsyou]

"What?"

Orpheus blinks, unsure of what Airy is gesturing at exactly before he looks down at himself - the scales along his forearms and feet and the feathers along his arms - and remembers how they got on the roof in the first place. He'd almost managed to completely forget, lost in the conversation as he was.

"Oh! I'm fine, yes! This is all a little strange? But I think it's safe. Like the candy at the music festival, right after I arrived in Deerington." None of that had gone horribly wrong at all, he's pretty sure. He glances over his shoulder at his wings, flexing them experimentally, before looking back at Airy.

"Do you want to try flying again? Maybe I can try doing more than just gliding next."

Sounds good!

[demonicbeauty]

Well, if he was sure, then she supposed she wouldn't worry.

"All right," she said, smiling easily. "Let's give it a try. And don't worry if you don't get it right away. I'll help."

She wasn't her mother. She wasn't going to let him plummet, just so he learned a lesson. The only lesson in that was that you couldn't depend on other people.

Ariadne disagreed.

People needed other people.