[006] Oh, When You're Gone Will They Say Your Name

[themuseabandonsyou]

Who: Orpheus (themuseabandonsyou) and others
What: April Catch-All
When: Throughout April
Where: Serenity Garden, Crenshaw, throughout the city

Warnings: Grief (loss of a loved one), depression, giant insect (Argonaut), flesh-eating monsters and potential for violent confrontation

I. And when you're gone will they love you the same
( OTA )( cw: grief (loss of a loved one), depression )
Orpheus shows up to Serenity Garden oddly dressed for the weather, in his denim jacket, a loose knitted cap and gloves. He looks a little too warm with all of that on, but taking it off isn't really an option - the symptoms of his ongoing corruption would be much too obvious. His hands are still gray and scaly, his antlers have yet to fully recede, and the set of four bony protrusions on his back where his beast form's wings were are still just barely too visible without a coat on. Still, even with all of that in mind, he's pretty sure he's okay to be out and about by now. Pretty sure. At the very least, he thinks he's reached the point where staying in his empty house all alone isn't helping him get any better.

So the first place he goes when he makes up his mind to venture out again is Airy's garden. He wants to see the fruits of her labors for himself, and it proves to be well worth it. Even in the gloom of April's at this point week-long night, it's beautiful, and he smiles what might be one of his first genuine smiles in a long, long time, just standing at the edge and taking it all in. Throughout the day, he moves slowly between the various benches and tables of the garden, sitting quietly with his guitar propped up next to him. He doesn't play it at any point. He doesn't have it in him. But it seemed important to bring it here with him.

II. Oh when you're gone we won't say a word
( OTA )( cw: grief (loss of a loved one), depression, giant non-hostile insect (Argonaut) )
On the roof of a small, powder blue house in Crenshaw sits a motley collection of beings. Four batcats lounge on the slopes and peaks, eyes alert in the moonlight, while sitting propped up against one of the gables is Orpheus, watching the moon and stroking something fluffy and white in his lap. At first glance it seems to be yet another batcat, but then there's a flash of compound eyes, of too many too-thin legs and mothy wings. It's Argonaut, come to rest his weary bones carapace?? for a moment.

Orpheus sings softly, almost too quiet to be heard from the street.

"Rossignolet sauvage,
Rossignolet sauvage,
Apprends-moi la manière
Apprends-moi z'à parler
Apprends-moi la manière
Comment l'amour se fait"
III. But you know that's okay
( OTA )( cw: potential for flesh-eating monsters and violent confrontation )
It's on his way back through the city from Serenity Garden that it happens. A ball of gold-white light plummets from the sky, looking for all the world like it's going to crash into the ground only to come to a gentle halt just a few inches above it. Orpheus, hesitantly lowers his arms after having thrown them up to protect his face and peers into it as it begins to unravel like a silken cocoon, the light fading away to reveal... a hole in the world? For a moment the daylight emanating through it is blinding in the long night of April, but Orpheus squints into it regardless, unable to look away.

[ OOC Note: If you pick this prompt please let me know if you'd like a Greek mythological monster or to meet one of Orpheus's old friends from home! If we've already plotted things out ahead of time you're good to go. If you don't specify I'll just pick for you. ]
IV. Wildcard
[ OOC: Need something else? Feel free to talk to me over at questionableveracity on Plurk or quodVide#2951 on Discord! ]

Comments

II. Oh when you're gone we won't say a word

[unphase]

[Tinya generally didn't spend much time in Crenshaw, but she'd been visiting a shop. now that that had been taken care of, she's on her way back to Cellar Door, but something grabs her eye.

four--four!--batcats and Orpheus singing on the rooftop. lucky for her that she understands french (it was almost a requirement of living in France for a year, they were still resisting the edict stating that Interlac would be the standard language of Earth, just as it was on other worlds, but to Tinya's ear, Interlac sounded vaguely clunky. and Bgztlian had too many consonants, enough consonants to rival the Slavic languages.

the song is beautiful and she waits for him to finish before calling up to him]

Bravo! Ta chanson était belle. Mais, si je peux me permettre... comment allez-vous ?

Je me rends compte que c'est probablement indiscret, alors n'hésitez pas à me dire de me taire.

[themuseabandonsyou]

[ Orpheus starts a little when he hears a voice calling up to him from below, sitting up straighter on the roof as he cranes his neck to look. The batcats, too, seem intrigued, raising their heads from their various lounging positions and looking on with shining eyes. ]

What? [ he calls back, resettling Argonaut in his lap. It takes him a second to catch up with just why he didn't understand what was said to him, but when it does he hurries to add; ] Oh! Um, I don't actually speak French? I just learned the song by sound.

[ And it probably shows, from his accent. His pronunciation was good, but it had that slightly off quality to it that comes from someone having memorized the phonetics of a phrase without really understanding the individual words. ]

[unphase]

[she knows she's very tasty to batcats, though she's trying to wean her batkitten off of her and onto large rodents and other vermin. and she adores batcats, so to have four of them was really impressive]

Oh. [she sees Argonaut's soft glow from the ground] Sorry about that! I was mostly telling you that the song was beautiful and asking how you were doing.

[she feels that she probably should have known in retrospect, but she was so thrilled to hear French, she wasn't thinking]

[themuseabandonsyou]

Oh! Thanks, I learned it a long time ago. [ He sets Argonaut down next to him and shifts slightly, scooting along the slope of the roof until he's sitting on the edge, so as to not have to shout quite as far to talk to Tinya. ] And I'm, um. I'm not doing well? But - you were one of the people who visited me last month, right? I'm better than I was then, at least.

[ That much is probably apparent, but he feels like it's worth stating. ]

Um. Thank you, by the way. I don't remember a lot of what was going on then, but I'm pretty sure you were there, right?

[unphase]

I guess I shouldn't be surprised. Where I'm from, the only places which actually use French other than Interlac are Quebec and France itself. And ballet dancers. [she looks up at him, smiling warmly] No, I'd expect not...but I was, yes. I'm glad you're doing better.

[yes, she'd certainly do the same in his shoes. she's already lost one person and it's been only four months. but can she claim to be upset since he was only a version of someone she already knew?]

Yes. And you don't need to thank me, I wanted to help.

[themuseabandonsyou]

You did. [ he says, nodding. ] Help, I mean. I'd still be out there if it hadn't been for all the people who came to see me.

[ And he smiles at her, though it fades to a more thoughtful and melancholy expression quickly. One of the batcats - a great fluffy white one - notices a vacancy on Orpheus's lap and ambles over to fill it, flopping over on his legs and shoving its head under his hand. He pets it absentmindedly. ]

I'm just... sorry you didn't get to meet Eurydice, like we talked about. You would've liked her, I think.

[unphase]

Then I'm glad I did. And that many others did as well. I think we can all understand why everything happened, it's...hard to lose those we love. Whether we're back home or here or anywhere else.

[she smiles back gently. and awwww, a fluffy batcat! she doesn't think she'll ever tire of seeing batcats around. but when his expression changes, she looks a little worried while still smiling]

I'm sure I would have. I'm sorry that we didn't get to meet, too.

[themuseabandonsyou]

It is. Hard. I still feel bad about it, though? Especially since, um. I don't think any Sleepers drowned because of me, but if they did... we come back. Most of the other citizens of Trench don't, and if any of them wound up out there because of me, I'd have no way of knowing?

[ He looks aside, stroking along the batcat's back. ]

I know I wasn't really myself, though, and that I can't go back and fix anything that happened. So I'm just trying not to, um. Obsess over it.

[unphase]

I'd think that the citizens of Trench wouldn't get involved. They--they don't really seem to? At least as far as I can tell. Our lives and theirs seem to be pretty separate. I haven't heard of any citizens getting dragged down into the catacombs or anything like that. So I'm sure you're fine.

[batcats are awfully good for things like that]

...probably a good idea. Obsessing over the bad doesn't do anyone any good, least of all yourself. [says the queen of Everything is Fine]

[themuseabandonsyou]

[ Orpheus nods slowly. Behind him, Argonaut seems to wake up from his nap, standing up on his six fuzzy legs and ambling down the slope of the roof to look at Tinya. He raises a forelimb in greeting, before silently settling down next to Orpheus. ]

I hope you're right, [ says Orpheus, frowning. ] But, um. How have you been doing? And, what was that about catacombs?

[unphase]

[she can't help but let loose a little coo at Argonaut, waving back with a warm smile on her face. the other Pthumerians weird her out a little, but Argonaut seems to be a sweetheart]

So do I. [she tries to look calm] ...oh, not much worth mentioning. But I did finish moving into my house, I'll have to invite you over sometime, though I call it The Maze for a reason.

so sorry for the delay!!!

[themuseabandonsyou]

Oh? Why's that?

[ Asks Orpheus, glancing aside momentarily at Argonaut and patting him on the fuzzy thorax, between his wings before looking back at Tinya. ]

I'd be happy to come over if you'd have me, though. I think it's good for me to be around people right now.

no worries!

[unphase]

Because it's nearly impossible to find your way around. There are half-flights of stairs and even though it looks like it's only two stories from the outside, it's more like two and a half? Or maybe three, it's really hard to tell. But my kittens and Carmilla and Moonlight are able to find their ways around just fine.

[Argonauuuuuuut. just the sight of Argonaut is enough to make her melt. that and be glad that her birthday and Blessed Day were in April]

I'd love that! I'd be happy to show you around, it really is a gorgeous house, despite the confusion.

[themuseabandonsyou]

Oh? That's strange. I wonder why someone would build something that way? And how.

[ Darkblood powers, maybe? Or maybe something stronger. He knows the Pthumerians are more than capable of shuffling space around like that, and have eccentric ideas about all sorts of things. ]

That sounds great, though. Oh, but, would you like to come inside? I can get off the roof and let you in, if you want to stay a while. [ He glances at Argonaut. ] You wouldn't mind, would you?

[unphase]

No idea. Maybe it's something of a challenge to its residents. "If you can figure me out, you can live here," and so on. I can find my way well enough now, but there were a couple of times where I was grateful for padded chairs.

[she wouldn't even begin to guess unless the guessing was the point. like a puzzle-box in the shape of a house. if it were that, she'd approve]

I'd love to come inside and stay a while. Just so long as it's okay with Argonaut. [she flashed him a bright smile]