<-- 𓍴 ℳemories of a stolen 𝗉lace ✨ --> Stri and Sock

Orpheus heard it too, his eyes widening at the sound. It took him only a moment to realize what it was before He backed up a few steps, glancing at the crew.
“Sirens!” He shouted, catching the attention of everyone still on deck. “Sirens!” He yelled again, trusting Jason to take over from that point. Disappearing belowdecks, he grabbed for his lyre before making his way back up top. The siren song was getting louder, loud enough that many of the crew had begun to listen, began to move forward. Orpheus murmured something unpleasant under his breath before he began playing, trying to make each note as loud and clear as he could. “Listen to me!” he shouted, hoping that would have some effect. His gaze turned towards the Doctor, hoping she knew what they were up against. Hoping she knew not to listen.
Jason had begun barking orders, telling those who could to get belowdecks, and those who couldn’t to try and cover their ears as they worked to steer the ship.
Crutchie stumbled back a few steps, shaking his head firmly. If the Doctor was staying, so was he, even if it was dangerous. The singing was pretty, too. He leaned forward, straining to hear it just a little better, trying to make out the individual words. He could hear Orpheus begin to play behind him, and a frustrated frown grew over his face. It seemed to him the singing had been saying something important, he wanted to hear it…

Crutchie let himself be pulled back reluctantly, relaxing only a little bit once the Doctor’s hands were firmly over his ears. He could hear the music, but he wanted to hear what the sirens had been saying. He wasn’t sure he knew what sirens were, but they seemed… important. Interesting. They had promised him things, and he wanted to hear the rest of what they had to say. And yet… he trusted the Doctor. He wanted to believe she really did have his best interest in mind. Reluctantly, he forced his own hands under hers, covering his ears. He wasn’t sure he really needed to now, though, especially with how loud Orpheus was playing. It was meant to cover the entire ship, and they were right next to him.
Orpheus, fortunately, hadn’t heard any of the sirens’ promises before he began playing. He had no urge to stop playing. No urge to abandon his duty and jump overboard. His self-restraint likely wouldn’t have lasted nearly that long if he had heard any of the promises they offered.
He glanced over, grateful the Doctor seemed to be telling Crutchie what to do. Good. He began to move forward, hoping that they would keep covering their ears so he could get nearer to the people who couldn’t cover theirs – the ones who needed to be steering the ship as far away from the sirens as they could get.

Orpheus watched the Doctor nervously, the music breaking off for just a moment as he considered whether to call out to her. At least the boy seemed to be staying close to him, letting him block out the sound from the sirens. Some of the men were starting to look at the water like the Doctor was. Orpheus couldn’t help all of them at once, he could just focus on making his music as loud as he possibly could.
“Doctor!” he called after a long moment, trying to pull her attention towards him. The men had agreed to be on this boat. They had left their families behind, and many knew they wouldn’t make it back. But the Doctor… if she went over, she would leave Crutchie there… he didn’t doubt the boy’s capability – he honestly could probably fight better than Orpheus himself – but they had come there together. Leaving him alone… wouldn’t be fair. “Don’t listen to them,” he said, yelling to be heard over his own playing.

Orpheus recoiled a little bit from the Doctor’s sharp voice, though he knew it was driven more by the siren’s spell than anything else. Still… he was trying to help, and he knew that if the Doctor went closer to the edge… she might never come back. He didn’t want to lose her like that.
“Please stay close,” Orpheus warned, shaking his head. He knew that every break he took in the music was a break for the sirens to ensnare someone in the crew… every time he talked, someone could die. If they died… that was on him. How could he shoulder that burden? He shook his head, turning his full attention back to the music.
Crutchie grabbed the Doctor’s arm, trying to stop her from going over to the edge. It meant he was slightly more exposed, only one hand over his ears, but he shook his head firmly.
“You’re my way out of here!” he yelled, trying to be heard over the music – the kind that kept them anchored to the boat, and the kind that lured them out, promising things that shouldn’t have been possible.

Crutchie breathed out in relief as the Doctor stepped back. He tried not to take the look she gave him personally – the sirens were tempting. He likely would have already been overboard if it weren’t for the Doctor and Orpheus. He wondered if there was a safe way to listen to them. A safe way to hear what they promised. He didn’t like the idea of drowning – the sirens wouldn’t even have to do much work with him. He didn’t know how to swim. If he fell in, he would sink like a rock.
“Maybe… maybe we’ll see them again,” he offered the Doctor, still shouting to make sure he had even the slightest chance of being heard. “Maybe… there’ll be a way for you to listen to them without it being dangerous! And without putting the crew in danger!” He didn’t know if that was possible, but he hated the disappointment on the Doctor’s face. He had been able to mostly clear the influence of the sirens from his mind. Orpheus’ music was distracting enough that it was easy to focus on that instead of the siren song, especially with one hand pressed against his ear as hard as he possibly could get it.

Orpheus glanced at the Doctor, not liking the set expression on her face. If she died here… if she went towards the trap… he shared a look with Crutchie, then set his jaw. No, he wouldn’t let any of them risk death, not yet. He knew there were some who wanted to know what it was the sirens had to tell them. He knew there were some who had plans to go by them, tying themselves to the mast. Maybe that would work on their way back. Or maybe… Orpheus knew where they were now. After this was all over, maybe he could take her back. Maybe… not with Crutchie, though. The boy looked about as uncomfortable as Orpheus felt.
“Do you have a song suggestion?” he called to the Doctor instead, hoping that distracting her would be enough to get her mind off the call of the sirens. He still kept playing, but he notes weren’t nearly as organized as they were before. He wasn’t exactly running out of material, but he was playing whatever came into his head. Whatever he thought was loud and exciting enough to keep the crew moving. As it was, he thought the siren song was getting at least a little bit quieter. It was easier to think.

Orpheus frowned a little bit, but he knew he had to keep playing, couldn’t break to ask what she meant by that. Or to explain to her that if she sang a chorus, he could probably get down the basics of the song well enough to play it, even if he had never heard it before. It wasn’t that difficult to figure music like that out, if there was at least one person nearby who knew what the song was supposed to sound like. He turned his attention away from her for just a moment, looking over at the crew to make sure they were all alright. His eyes were wide as he did a mental count, breath coming out in a soft gasp as he realized they were all there. Good.
“I’m making something up right now,” he admitted to the Doctor as soon as he felt safe enough to talk again. He could still hear the siren song, but it was starting to fade out. Starting to get easier to ignore. He couldn’t read the Doctor’s expression very well – he didn’t know her well enough to be able to yet – but he didn’t think she was very pleased. Or relieved, even though their lives weren’t in danger anymore.
Finally, he set the lyre down and met her eyes, tilting his head a little bit.
“Are you alright?” he asked candidly, brow furrowing in concern.

Orpheus searched the Doctor’s face, giving it a quick look over before deciding it wasn’t a battle he wanted to fight. As long as she was alive, she would be alright. If she wasn’t feeling find now… then he might as well make sure that the rest of the crew had survived.
“Jason knew there would be danger. He had been forthright with Orpheus about that from the very beginning. Orpheus knew that without him there… the crew would die. He just hadn’t expected it to happen quite so quickly.
Crutchie didn’t believe that the Doctor was alright. He couldn’t read her very well, but he had a feeling that something was still… wrong. He let the lie go, though, because he really didn’t know her well enough to be able to call her out on it. He just had… a feeling.
“Are we fine?” he asked the Doctor, shifting his weight a little bit. “I mean… you were pretty drawn in by them…”

“The easy part?” Crutchie replied, a bit of nervousness leaking into his voice. He didn’t want to demand that the Doctor tell him everything, but if she had an idea of where this was going… he couldn’t help but feel that she owed him at least a little bit of an explanation. If they were in danger, he wanted to know what sorts of things he needed to be prepared for. And it wasn’t even like, if this was actual history, that she could change history by telling him what would happen, because he wasn’t supposed to be here in the first place.
“What sorts of obstacles?” he asked after a moment, trying to ask in the most tactful way he knew how. He was fine with danger – danger wasn’t that much different from figuring out how to sell papers and make enough money to survive the next day. At least this sort of danger was more rewarding. “Maybe… telling me what you know will help you work out the details? That works for smart people, sometimes. Trying to explain it to people who don’t know much.”

Crutchie was having a hard time telling truth from fiction. The thing was… he wanted to believe the Doctor about the things that Orpheus could do. He was in the middle of the ocean with a group of strangers, having just passed a group of magical monsters. It was thousands of years before he had even been born. But he had no concept of what was possible and what wasn’t. Was it possible to make stones weep? The rules weren’t quite clear. He wasn’t even sure the Doctor knew the rules.
“I’ve heard of Odysseus,” he supplied, though he doubted the comment was very helpful. Just because he had heard of someone didn’t mean he knew what they had gone through, nor what their trials meant for the situation they currently found themselves in. “But… if Orpheus has a ways ahead of him, that means he probably survives this, right?” He hoped that was the case. Firstly, because he found he liked the musician, and he liked the way he seemed so dedicated to helping the crew, but also because the Doctor was right. The best way to survive was probably sticking near the one person you knew was going to come out of the situation alive.
“But… yeah, that seems cool. Think we’ll see him do anything like that?” The thing was… Orpheus didn’t seem amazing. His music was good, but he just… seemed like a normal person who was doing his best to be nice. Not like the untouchable heroes that stories were full of.

Crutchie followed the Doctor’s gaze, then nodded. He wanted to hear Orpheus perform and make rocks cry (which he didn’t really believe in, but wanted to see even more because of that), but there were other things they needed to handle first. Namely, figuring out what, exactly, was going to happen next. And maybe try to make themselves useful so they didn’t get kicked off at the nearest stop.
He, too, was wondering if anyone else had seen how close the Doctor had come to going over the edge in spite of Orpheus’ music. He wouldn’t’ be surprised if someone like Jason would try to use that as an excuse to kick them off the boat. Finding something to do seemed like a good way to mitigate that possibility.
“I’ll go see if I can find Jason,” he said after a moment, looking around. The crew seemed a little bit nervous, though they had all survived what was probably the first of many trials. Crutchie couldn’t shake the desire to stick close to Orpheus, if only because it seemed like he was probably going to survive. Also his music was nice. Reluctantly, he moved forward into the bow of the ship, hoping to find Jason and request… orders was the wrong word. He wasn’t going to take orders. But he was capable of helping, if there was something for him to do.

Crutchie looked back at the sound of the Doctor’s voice, stepping aside so she could talk to Jason, if she wanted. He didn’t think he was the best one to handle it, as Jason had barely acknowledged him when he walked in. But… barely was better than no acknowledgment at all, he supposed.
Jason turned, eyes narrowing a bit as he took in the sight of the Doctor.
“Are you asking to do anything specific?” he asked, looking rather suspiciously at the Doctor. He hadn’t seen her near-foray into the depths, but he had been aware she had been on deck without really helping. Not that he had that much of a problem with it – he figured she and Crutchie might have gotten in the way had they tried to insert themselves. He considered, then shifted. “Have either of you ever sailed before?” he asked, arms crossing. “If not… it might be useful for you to learn how to help with the sails. We have the rowing down well enough.” He sounded resigned, almost – there was no getting rid of them, it seemed. “And Doctor… you best not be lying about your navigational abilities. We may yet need them.”

Jason’s eyes narrowed as he looked at the Doctor, seemingly judging what she was saying to make sure she was telling the truth. Frustratingly, he found he couldn’t tell. He cast a quick glance at Crutchie, trying to see if he had any idea. Apparently not. Or else he was as good at hiding things as the Doctor was. He breathed out, trying to keep his patience. He didn’t like not being certain. He liked having all of his ducks in a row, and the Doctor wasn’t just not lined up, she was a swan among his ducks. He couldn’t predict her.
“We’re heading to Lemnos,” he informed her, dipping his head. “If we can find accommodation there, we may rets for a night or two, just to collect extra supplies to fuel us on the rest of our trip. Beyond that… Colchis, hopefully. We may make a few extra stops along the way, but… the journey isn’t always predictable, Doctor. We don’t know exactly where we’ll end up.” He pursed his lips, considering.
“We may need your help getting back on course towards Lemnos. We might have ended up off course with the… encounter with the sirens.”

Crutchie glanced at the Doctor, eyes wide as she commented about a sound. A sound he couldn’t hear. He shared a helpless look with Jason, then moved forward a few steps in an attempt to help as best he could. Whatever the sound was, it looked like it hurt… he braced the Doctor’s arm, then immediately let go, slamming his hands over his own ears.
“I hear it,” he muttered reluctantly, though he wasn’t sure hearing was the right word. It was as though the sound pierced through him, buzzing and reacting in ways Crutchie didn’t know sound could. He leaned down so he could keep hold of his crutch as he tried to block the noise out.
“What… what does it mean?” he asked, almost shouting the words as he looked at the Doctor, brows creasing enough that the freckles on his forehead almost seemed to meet in the middle of his face. His eyes narrowed and he shook his head vigorously, lowering his hands just long enough to attempt to get out of the cabin. Maybe it would be better in the fresh air. There hadn’t been any problem before they’d gone to look for Jason… though Crutchie knew well enough that it was probably completely unrelated. It was easier to just… place the blame.