[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

[unphase]

"Wow, that's a lot. It sounds like you must have been some kind of prodigy, to be good at so many instruments and okay with even more." And she doesn't mind a bit of bragging, she'd do that in his position. "Really? May I ask...were you in the past? Because I'm from 3000 and rock is very well established then."

"It's...kind of a family tradition. One Mother took very seriously," which would be an understatement. Ever since she was five, she'd been following her mother throughout the galaxy. She had a brief reprieve when she was fourteen and of age, but her mother pulled her out of her attempt to establish a life for herself and back into the corps. Mostly to serve as a spy on the other diplomats and ambassadors. It had been exhausting and she took the first out that she could.

"I really, really appreciate it and I will. But...Duckling? Is that a nickname? I don't think she has, though, so space to practice would be amazing. A place to perform would be even better! Thank you so much!"

She's been trying, but she's also got her "day job" as a Night Walker.

[themuseabandonsyou]

Orpheus just laughs at that, still sheepish over that kind of praise even though one might think he'd be used to it by now.

"It's a gift," he says, meaning it a little more literally than the average person would when talking about their talents. "And I spend a lot of time practicing. But, um. If you mean the year? 678.3 had just started, when I was last back where I came from."

He'd said goodbye to Hermes during the high heat of Hekatombaion, just after New Years celebrations had wrapped up. For a moment he goes quiet, thinking about it, about how his uncle had seen him off as he passed from that world to this, before shaking it off and returning to the conversation at hand.

"But we count the years differently, by the sound of it, so I don't know how much that helps." He frowns a little, thinking. "Anyway, 'Duckling' is just the name she goes by on the Omni. I don't think she introduced herself by her real name when we talked. But I'll see what I can do!"

[unphase]

"Even with a gift, it needs practice. At least that's what I've been told." Her teammates had told her that, that she had a gift for being there for people. And since here teammates were also overly hormonal and messy teenagers, it got a lot of practice. "678.3? Sweet Mistress. It's, well. It's 3000 where I was from."

Goodbyes were always difficult, even when there were complications. She regretted that she never got to give proper good-byes to those she'd lost in the other world, especially since she knew they were all long dead by her time.

"Yes, it really seems that way. I wish there was some way of telling who was from which timeline, how many of us share worlds. Those kinds of things," she hadn't meant "Oh, that makes sense. It's easy to not make introductions on the Omninet, most people don't use their real names there."

[themuseabandonsyou]

"Right, it's hard to tell sometimes," says Orpheus. "I've had some friends say it's the late 1900s, or the early 2000s, but who knows if they started counting the year from the same thing they do where you came from?"

It's obvious enough for him, when you take into account how the whole entire calendar seems to be different for most people here. If anything it's strange to him how many people from different worlds seem to be familiar with the same not-quite-numbered months, the same linear counting of the years without the Olympiad cycle or anything like it for structure. Of all the things to stay constant across so many different universes...

But that's getting sidetracked again. Orpheus forces himself back to the conversation at hand. What were they talking about? Oh, right.

"We got kind of distracted talking about stories, instead of introducing ourselves," he says. "She was really nice, though! She's a young girl with blue eyes and red hair pulled back in a braid. She said she'd only been practicing ballet for a few months, but she seemed to know a lot about it."

[unphase]

"Yeah. And to be honest, it's hard to keep the Terran calendar in mind, I'm used to the Bgztlian calendar." Five thousand years since her foremothers united the planet under their rule.

Most of the diplomatic corps and her fellow Legionnaires used the Terran calendar, even though no one really believed in god or gods anymore. Well, except for Gim, he was Jewish, but the less she thought of him, the better. It had been a senseless tragedy brought about by one girl's wish to make all of their wishes come true and his was to die a hero.

But the more she thinks of home, the more she misses it. So it was best to never let herself wonder what was going on. She usually wasn't successful.

"Yeah, that happens! Personally, I can't help it, everyone's so interesting and different, I kind of want to learn as much as possible. But, that description's familiar. "Oh! Arihu! I've ran into her myself, she does seem to know a lot about ballet, but she seems a little shy."

[themuseabandonsyou]

Orpheus nods, sympathetic. "I only learned the months of the - Terran, you said? - the Terran year because they seemed really important back in Deerington. Here, too. Everything seems to go in cycles."

And they're still learning what those cycles are here in Trench, but it seems pretty well established and possible to find some warning, if one happens to stumble across the right books or knowledgeable townsfolk.

"Oh! So you have met! That's good! She does seem pretty shy, though, yes. Maybe she'll get more confidence as she practices, though. I know getting better at music helped me a lot with things when I was growing up."

Not that he ever really had a problem with being shy, but there's a certain kind of security of mind that comes with being truly good at something you love and able to share it with others.

[unphase]

Tinya hmmed to herself slightly. "As much as everything seems to have changed, I guess some things had to stay the same. A way of counting time seems like an obvious one to keep. After all, why discard something which had worked well enough for centuries?"

Trench was unlike any planet Tinya had ever been to before. And to have it once have been Terra made it all even more disconcerting. She doubts her flight ring will work well enough here to let her do any proper exploration, but she has to wonder about the trade ships which occasionally came in. If they had any more information about Trench than Trench itself allowed.

"Yes. Practice makes...well, not always perfect, but perfect is an unobtainable goal. As much as we might struggle to reach it, it's the struggle which helps give what we're doing meaning. Especially while we're young" She was fine with the struggle to be the best ballerina, the best Legionnaire she could be. The best at what her mother wanted? Not so much.

Neither did she and she does know that kind of security. Though, she also has the security of being the only child of a seemingly endless bloodline, the security and the eventual call to responsibility.

[themuseabandonsyou]

Orpheus nods, enthusiastic.

"That's a good way to look at it, I think. I've always figured there's no such thing as perfection in art, and that that while it's good to strive for better, sometimes the imperfections are what make the best art what it is. Like a singer's voice breaking with emotion, or the roughness of an impressionist painting."

The individuality of each artist's attempts to reach for the ideal that exists in their minds and perhaps falling short, but in ways unique to them, unique to every individual attempt.

"Anyway," he says, realizing he's about to get off topic again, "I told her I'd play for her too, if she wanted to practice to music, and I'm still happy to do that for you, as well as keeping an eye out for a good space to practice or perform. I know some of the other Sleepers put on a play, a little while back..."

[unphase]

She smiled back, equally as enthusiastic.

"Thank you. I...sort of had the peril of perfection shown to me in an old Terran movie about a ballerina trying to do what I'd had to do at the time--dance the white and black swans. That I had to allow room for imperfections and emotions in the moment because they'd color in the experience for the audience. And it's that, it's exactly that. I...it's so cool that you know all of this already and didn't have to learn the hard way."

Tinya remembers dancing both swans, the grace and timidity of the white with the savage attraction of the black. And watching the movie where the attempt at both with perfection drove its protagonist mad.

She smiled. She could talk about ballet for days. Even as a Legionnaire, in the other world, and here, she did her best to keep in practice because she was hoping for a danseur to arrive for her.

"I can't tell you how happy that makes me. I was--so used to going it alone. And if we can get Arihu and her friend from home and me, all of us in practice together, we'll all boost each other up, especially with your music." Tinya was on the verge of tears at the notion.

[themuseabandonsyou]

"Oh?" Orpheus thinks for a moment, trying to figure out why that sounds familiar. "That's... Swan Lake, right? The white and black swans. Did they make a movie out of the ballet?"

In his excitement over the idea he sort of forgets that Tinya's very probably from a different world and that just because they made a movie in her time and place doesn't mean it'll happen in his. Still, it's an exciting notion. He hadn't thought about film being used to capture other art forms before.

"And, well, it took me some time to start thinking of it that way, too? It came out of talking with a lot of different artists, about the things they liked about their own work, and the things other people liked about their work, and how sometimes what they thought of as their own flaws were what made people keep coming back to them. And it doesn't mean you ever stop trying to improve, if that's what makes you happy, but it does mean that maybe everyone's idea of perfection and beauty is a little different."

He beams, eyes alight. He likes talking about this kind of thing - not just art itself, but the driving forces behind it, for him and for others. It's something he spends a lot of time thinking about.

"I'm glad!" he says, laughing a little. "There are a lot of other musicians here, too, from a lot of other worlds. I wouldn't be surprised if some of them know something about ballet scores, too. I can ask some of them, and see what they know. Maybe we can get a band together."

[unphase]

"Yes! About a young woman who buckles under the pressures of the role and of her own standards for herself and it's called "Black Swan." It's probably my favorite film of all time, even though it's nearly a thousand years old."

But they had made the movie in her world. She'd been avidly watching it since she was a child, although it was likely far too adult for a child to really glean the message from. All she got was an increased desire to be as good of a ballerina as possible (though, not perfect. no one could be perfect).

"It's hard to go from thinking of the arts from a solo project into a collaborative effort. At least if one learns on their own, which I mostly did. I spent most of my childhood taking long-distance lessons from the Paris Opera Ballet, even though I'd started lessons with them when I was old enough to stand up for five minutes without falling down. And improvement always makes me happy. I hope it makes you happy, too, but it must given the way you talk about it."

Her eyes are glowing, too, she also loves discussing the arts with others since back home and on the other world, the arts weren't valued highly. She wanted to bring the arts to the other world, but no one seemed interested.

She giggles merrily and smiles at him. "Really? Oh, wow. If any of them do, if Arihu and her friend are willing to perform, that would be the greatest thing I can think of! Having a band, having performances...it's like something out of a dream, it really is."

[themuseabandonsyou]

"Oh, so it's a movie about the ballerinas and crew putting on a production of Swan Lake?" That's not quite what he was thinking, but if anything it sounds even more interesting. "I guess you must really be from a long way in - um, I guess 'the future' isn't the right way to think about it? If we're from different realities entirely. But movies have only existed for about ten years where I come from, and I've only ever gotten to see one."

He guesses he might've had the opportunity back in Deerington, but he'd never really thought to take advantage. Probably for the better, too, considering that he's pretty sure it was all monster movies and the monsters had a tendency to follow moviegoers home afterwards, back there.

"It does! Make me happy, I mean. Music and all that goes into it - listening to it, writing it, playing, dancing - they're some of my favorite things in the world. And I'm not much of an artist in any other sense myself? But I love seeing what other people can make and do." He grins. "I'll see what I can do! I'm sure people here will love whatever we can come up with. I think some Sleepers here actually put on an entire musical a while back? Maybe I can ask them how they did it."

[unphase]

"Kind of, yeah. But it's mostly about a woman who's picked to play both parts and how the stress makes her fall apart. It's a great movie, but it's really sad in parts because the main character is so hard on herself." Not that Tinya could relate to that. No, not at all. "And I guess I am? it's 3000 AD according to the Terran calendar. But you've only gotten to see one movie! Clearly, that needs to change"

She's heard that the Omnis have access to any and all kinds of pop culture on them. She'd imagine that would stretch into movies? She hopes so, anyway.

"I'm glad. We should all have something to make us happy, especially here where it's so bleak and cold. Any rest from the surroundings, even a temporary one, it's important. But, you can write your own music? That is impressive. As for other artists...I really hope that we can have some kind of ballet performance, even if it is all solo acts. And that would be great, if you could find out how they managed a full musical. Those take a lot of effort." She's especially fond of Chicago, so many great parts for women.

[themuseabandonsyou]

"Oh, that makes sense," says Orpheus. The artistic struggle and the pressures one places on one's self are ripe topics for exploration, after all. "Does she wind up okay, in the end? Or - I guess you shouldn't tell me, since maybe I'll get the chance to see it myself, someday?"

He hasn't exactly seen a lot of movie theaters around Trench, but stranger things happen all the time.

"Anyway, yes! I've been composing almost as long as I've been playing." Not that he was much good at it when he started, as a child, but everyone has to start somewhere. "And one of my friends was cast in the show they put on, I think, so I can ask him next time I see him!"

He pauses, something suddenly occurring to him, and pulls his Omni out of his pocket, glancing at the watch face he's set to pop up whenever he checks it.

"Oh, but, I think I should get going? I was supposed to be home by now. Unless you need any more help?" His tone implies he's happy to stick around if that's the case - he can absolutely make his excuses if need be. But Eurydice might be kind of worried about him by now. At the very least he should give her an estimate as to when he'll be back.

[unphase]

"You should definitely get to see it. I've heard that these Omnis have pretty much every kind of pop culture stored on them, they've got to have the movie somewhere in there. You can invite over your wife and I'll attempt to find popcorn somewhere around here," she said excitedly. She loves having friends and having the opportunity to do something nice for them.

She knows that it at least has music, from the wildly popular to the obscure.

"That's really something. Most people I know can play an instrument, but they don't know the first thing about actually writing music." Lyle and his ridiculous jazz clarinet was always an exception to just about every rule. "That would be really helpful, thanks!"

Tinya looks on quizzically.

"Sure, that's fine. I'll be okay," she says in a convincing tone of voice. She was generally hesitant to ask for things for herself. And she figured she'd talked his ear off long enough.

[themuseabandonsyou]

"Right! I'm not very good at using mine?" says Orpheus, looking back at it and considering it carefully. "But I guess I have heard some people talking about listening to music from the places they came from on theirs. Maybe I'll try to figure out how to use it for that kind of thing later?"

It's certainly worth a shot. Orpheus isn't sure how such a small stone could contain so much, but he's not going to question it. For one thing, he's not sure he'd understand the explanation even if he found one, and that's okay.

"And I would love to introduce you to Eurydice and see the movie with you! Some other time, though. It's been a pleasure meeting you!"

He beams at her, one last time, before nodding and turning to hurry off down the street, disappearing into the crowd as he hums to himself cheerfully.

[unphase]

"They do take some getting used to. It seemed impossible that all of Earth's music and movies and everything had been preserved, but I'm glad it was." She gave a little shrug.

"And the same to you! Talk to you another time!" And Tinya set off on her own errands and exploration.