𝕋𝕚𝕞𝕖 𝕊𝕥𝕒𝕟𝕕𝕤 𝕊𝕥𝕚𝕝𝕝 - Hawk & Stri

Orpheus didn’t say anything at first, just watched L for a long moment to make sure he was okay. Had he been starving? Was Orpheus’ tolerance for time without food longer than L’s? Was there a reason he had eaten without even waiting for Orpheus to take a bite? The whole situation was distracting Orpheus enough that he almost forgot he was holding his own slice. L didn’t eat before Orpheus proved it wasn’t poisoned. He just… didn’t. Which meant either something was very, very wrong, or… or L was beginning to trust him. Orpheus didn’t dare let himself believe that, so it had to be that something was the matter that Orpheus had somehow failed to notice.
“Is everything alright?” he breathed, concern coating his voice even as he broke off a piece of his own bread and chewed it mindlessly, brows furrowed as he watched L. “Did… did I wait too long to make the food? I didn’t mean to make you suffer or anything, I just… I guess I stopped us when I was hungry and I didn’t think to ask you before, so it’s possible…” he trailed off, cheeks turning red as he realized he was now rambling. That was no way to solve a problem, no matter how unnerved Orpheus was.

Orpheus watched L, not letting the concern leave his expression until L guaranteed that he was alright. It was just… odd, that he had eaten without checking to make sure Orpheus had taken a bite first. Orpheus had hoped to earn L’s trust, and he had hoped to make him more comfortable by cooking in front of him, but he had never actually allowed himself to imagine it happening. L was paranoid by habit, and habits took a very long time to break if you had built them up for centuries. Besides, paranoia wasn’t an unreasonable habit to have. It was something that Orpheus needed to get a little bit more of. Perhaps not paranoia, but suspicion at the very least. So the idea that L might be starting to trust him, at least when it came to food… it wasn’t so much alarming as it was merely… unexpected.
“I’m glad,” he said after a long moment, his smile widening as he took a bite of his own food. It tasted like nothing, though perhaps that was just because Orpheus’ mind wasn’t on the food. It was entirely on the fact that L had eaten without giving it a second thought. Maybe it would happen again. Maybe not. But the fact that it had even happened once felt like an accomplishment. Orpheus was actually making progress when it came to winning L over. They may never be friends, but at the very least L wasn’t quite as afraid that Orpheus was going to kill him. Baby steps, but wasn’t a baby’s first step an accomplishment to be celebrated?

Orpheus took another bite of his bread, trying to figure out what L was saying. Perhaps just trying to determine what had made this time different from all of the others. Perhaps it wasn’t different. Perhaps it was just that they had already spent a lot of time together. Perhaps it was that Orpheus had been making food for L long enough that if he had wanted to poison him, he likely already would have. He didn’t want L dead, though. He didn’t know how to explain that to him. It seemed, however, that the way he made him food was proving his point for him.
When L spoke, Orpheus froze. It wasn’t the same voice L had used before. It wasn’t an intense, scary voice. It was… soft. Loud enough to be heard, but quiet enough that it felt a little bit gentle around the edges. It sounded like a promise, but he couldn’t quite tell what for.
This was a turning point. Orpheus knew it was. This wasn’t the point where they decided that they were going to keep traveling together for the rest of their life, but it certainly seemed to be going along that track. Orpheus didn’t know if he would ever have to part ways with L, but if he did… it would be after they had a day where Orpheus made something with mint in it. Orpheus could fool himself by avoiding making it for a long time, but… he knew that logic didn’t hold up. L wasn’t saying he would leave as soon as they had something with mint. He was just saying that he would be here for it. And though Orpheus may not have been able to understand all of the meaning behind L’s words, he understood enough. And it was enough to nearly reduce Orpheus to tears.

Orpheus had noticed how quickly the change had happened. It was as though one moment L wasn’t comfortable with his presence, and the next he had decided he was okay with it. Orpheus didn’t know ow long L intended to stay, but… he liked having him there. He wouldn’t ask him to stay forever. That was a request he didn’t know how to make. A request he wasn’t sure it was his place to make. Still… he found he didn’t want to imagine a future without L. He didn’t’ want to imagine a future alone (he never had), but now more often than not, when the thought occurred to him, that nebulous ‘other person’ was L. Perhaps he would lose him. Perhaps L would decide that he didn’t want to stay. Orpheus figured he would deal with that when and if it happened instead of worrying about it now, though.
There were things that he wanted to show L. Things that had taken his breath away once, and that he was secretly hoping might be capable of doing the same now. He didn’t know if they would be able to go out onto the ocean, but at the very least they could wade into its shallows. Orpheus had avoided travelling by boat most of the time. You needed records to travel by boat, and there was the added factor that L might not have been able to follow him when he was still just Érebos. Orpheus didn’t want to risk losing his shadow then. Besides, it wasn’t as though land travel would kill him. He could withstand harsh weather and days of hunger much better than he probably could drowning. He didn’t know that for a fact… he had never tried to hold his breath underwater since he’d been cursed.
“We’re here,” Orpheus whispered, the lapping sound of waves cutting straight through his thoughts. He took a step forward, then reached down and peeled off his shoes. “Have you ever waded across a shoreline?”

Orpheus, in theory, had learned from making promises he couldn’t keep. He didn’t want to tell L that they would be together forever, that he would make the world safer for him, that nothing could separate them… he knew those kinds of promises tempted fate. Those sorts of things, no matter how hard he tried, were out of his control. Besides, he doubted L would even want those promises. L was with him out of convenience. Out of necessity, actually. There was nobody else like them. If they didn’t want to be alone, they were forced to be with each other. It was cruel, in a way. L didn’t get to choose who to spend this time with. Orpheus had forced him into this position. No matter how many times L told Orpheus not to blame himself for what happened, Orpheus knew he was always going to. It was his fault that L had been cursed. His fault that L hadn’t been allowed to grow older. Distantly he wondered if being ready to accept death, if feeling like you had lived your life was something that came with age. Not the number of years, exactly, but the number of wrinkles on your face. Orpheus was old, but he had never aged. He was never going to age.
“Yes,” Orpheus replied, shaking away the more morbid thoughts. He wanted to enjoy the moment they had now, not worry about the future that may or may not be coming.
“Especially if you’ve never been to the ocean. You might get sand between your toes, though…” he glanced at L’s feet, then shook the thought away. “It’ll be okay. The water will wash it away. I just hope the sand doesn’t bother you too much.” Orpheus gave a small smile, then hurried towards the sound of waves. The sand was hot under his feet, but he didn’t mind. He could still burn, but it wasn’t something he was concerned about. Before long he had broken into a run, racing down towards the sight of the waves lapping lightly onto the sand.

Orpheus splashed into the waves, a grin crossing his features at the cool feeling of water against his bare feet. The sand had been hot, but the chill of the water immediately relieved any temporary pain he had felt. He could feel a piece of seaweed wrapping itself around his leg, but he didn’t mind it much. It was just… nice. The air was salty and smelled like home, and Orpheus couldn’t help the wild freedom that swept across him, filling every crevice of his being. It was different from how he had felt seeing the lights. He had a feeling it was different from how L had felt seeing the lights, too. It was something L had never seen before, something he had likely been dreaming about for decades. This, for Orpheus, was like coming home, though there was no risk of running into anywhere that was filled with too many memories. He had been to the beach with Eurydice, but he had been to the beach with a lot of people. It was a neutral place. A place that usually meant moving on somewhere else… a place that meant something exciting was on the horizon. A journey, of sorts. There was no journey now, at least not one that Orpheus was aware of, but it filled him with awe nonetheless.
“Welcome,” Orpheus murmured as L joined him, the smile on his face soft and genuine. “I spent a lot of my childhood down by the sea… I guess it still makes me feel like there’s a little bit of wonder in the world. A whole life ahead of me that’s about to unfold.”

You could see the ocean almost anywhere. There were very few kingdoms or countries that didn’t have a coastline. It wasn’t as rare or as breathtaking as the lights had been, it was just… different. Familiar, but in a way that made Orpheus’ heart soar in his chest. He let his eyes close for just a moment, let the salty sea air soak through him, then gave a quiet sigh as his eyes flitted open to once again meet L’s. The water was rushing over his feet, cool in a comfortable way – not frigid, but enough to cut through the warmth of the day. It felt like coming home, in a way. It was odd, that there were still things that could do that. Things that, though he hadn’t experienced them in centuries, could make him feel comfortable and safe. He wasn’t necessarily safe here. He might never be safe somewhere again. But there was something about this, something about allowing himself this moment that made things feel like they were going to be okay.
“You should probably learn how to swim at some point,” Orpheus murmured. From anyone else, the words may have sounded judgmental. From Orpheus, they were just concerned. “You’re going to have to be near water at some point if you live for a few more centuries. It might save your life.” He gave a small smile, wading just a little bit deeper so the water came up to his knees. He had his back to the waves so they wouldn’t bowl him over.
“I’ve always thought it was beautiful,” he admitted, looking out over the water. “It’s a reminder of how big the world is. How much more there is to explore.”

Orpheus looked at L, a tiny smile crossing his face as he listened to L muse. Death felt like something far away and incredibly divorced from them. They were likely going to die at some point. Everything did, and it was built right into the curse. There were things that could kill them, they just… wouldn’t age. They hadn’t tested if they would starve or die of dehydration either. If they did, though, it would take a much longer time than it would for a normal person. Orpheus pushed the thought away, kneeling down so he could press his hands into the sand.
“I don’t know if we can drown or not,” he admitted after a moment, letting the words hang in the air. He closed his eyes for just a moment, then pushed his fingers into the sand, coming out with a small creature in his hands.
“There’s always more to see,” Orpheus confirmed, covering the small creature with one hand so it was protected from the sunlight.
“I found a mole crab,” he explained, giving a quiet laugh as it scuttled across his hands, tickling him with its little feet. He turned his gaze fully towards L. “It can’t hurt you… its pincers are small and they don’t bite or anything. Do you want to hold it?”

Orpheus didn’t think that travelling together decreased their chances of living. He figured that it increased it, actually. If there were two of them, they could look out for each other and make sure the other was safe. Two heads were better than one, it seemed, and humans were more likely to survive in groups. Maybe they were more conspicuous travelling together, but they had technically been ‘together’ before. Orpheus had always been careful not to stay in one place for too long. It was easier to live somewhere quiet, completely alone except when he needed something, but… it was lonely. On the other hand, big cities were good as long as you kept moving around, but… Orpheus wasn’t sure he really wanted to stay in one place for long periods of time. He liked moving around if there was someone willing to move around with him.
Carefully, Orpheus tilted his hands so that L could see the tiny creature inside. It was good size for a mole crab, and it seemed to have more or less adjusted to Orpheus’ palm. It would get restless in a minute or two if there was no water, but for now it seemed to be okay.
“It is pretty small, huh,” Orpheus breathed, then very carefully lifted one hand to expose the crab to the sun. It scrambled back, but Orpheus shifted so it would back itself right into L’s hand. Gently, he cupped his free hand over L’s to comfort the creature and give it the shade it desired.
“They live under the sand, so they don’t like it when there’s a lot of sun. It means they’re exposed to predators.”

Orpheus gave a small shrug, kneeling down to dip his hands in the water to clean the sand from them. He smiled at L as he looked at the small creature, then carefully placed his hands back over L’s so that the crab could have a little bit of shade.
“I don’t know if it really uses its pincers much, or if those are just… something they have just in case. They mainly protect themselves by hiding out under the sand where nobody can find them. Except birds, sometimes, when they come out to get food from the ocean. The birds watch the tide come in, and they wait until the crabs come out of the sand to feel the water… or to feed, or something, I don’t really know details.” It wasn’t as though the pincers were going to be very effective against a bird, either. Birds weren’t quite as big as humans, but they were probably more difficult to pinch if only because of how covered they were in feathers. Orpheus gave a small shrug, taking a few steps into deeper water. The tide seemed to be going out, so they would need to be careful to be gone before it came back in, but… that was alright with Orpheus. He was just enjoying the time they did have here.
“Would you like to learn how to swim?” Orpheus asked suddenly, eyes catching on L’s and staying there. It was a nice day for it… if L wanted to learn, there was all the time in the world to teach him.

Drowning seemed about as likely for them as starving to death was, but… that didn’t really mean much. Orpheus didn’t know if they were capable of starving to death, after all. All he knew was that they could get hungry, if enough time passed. And the hunger hurt the longer they went without eating. It seemed possible that they would die eventually if they stopped eating entirely. It seemed likely that they would die if they were deprived of air for a long enough time. They could probably survive longer than most humans, but that didn’t mean it would be very pleasant.
“I wouldn’t have offered if I weren’t alright with it,” Orpheus replied, voice quiet but genuine. He wanted to be helpful. Besides, he didn’t think there was a better use of time at the moment. There were other things they could do, of course, but they were here, and one of the most fun things to do in the ocean was swim, so…
“The ocean is a good place to learn,” Orpheus added, pooling water in his hand before letting it drip back down into the ocean. “The water is different because it’s salty. It makes it easier to float than in freshwater.”

They seemed to have somewhat different communication styles, which they would need to take note of if they were going to be spending much more time together. It didn’t really seem like it mattered in the meantime, though. Orpheus gave L a smile, leaning backwards so he was floating in the water. It was just deep enough that he was able to do so without ending up half in the sand. It would just continue to get shallower where they were as the tide went out, but for now it seemed okay.
“The difficult thing is that the waves may knock you over when we’re out here,” Orpheus told L, considering that for a moment. Orpheus had learned in the ocean, but not on a shore. He had learned at a port, where there were fewer waves that could knock someone over. There was, of course, deeper water.
“You need to be careful of rip currents,” he added, thinking. “They’ll pull you out pretty quickly. If you get caught in one, don’t move. Just float and let it carry you out. I’ll come out and bring you back if that happens. If you struggle, you’re just likely to get hurt.”

“The waves might get bigger if the temperature goes bad,” Orpheus said after a moment, glancing at the waves. They were fairly calm at the moment, though he didn’t know if that correlated more with the time of day than it did with the weather. Either way, Orpheus would make sure they both got out if the waves started to get aggressive. Nonetheless, he sent a quick prayer to Poseidon just in case. He doubted the gods were still looking after him, but he could hope. Besides, he thought they probably liked it when people prayed to them, especially now that there were more people in the world who didn’t believe in them. It couldn’t hurt anything to think a quick prayer for calm waves. He sent one to the winds, too, and a fond thought Calais’ direction, just in case.
“Do you see where the waves are breaking?” Orpheus asked, pointing out where the white began crashing. “It would likely only pull you out a little bit further than that. Just don’t panic if you get caught in one. I don’t see any near where we are, but there might be some as the tide starts to rise again.”

Orpheus was used to warmer ocean temperatures. The first time he had ever stepped into a colder ocean had felt a little bit like walking right into ice. It was a bad feeling. Thankfully, he didn’t have to deal with it in this ocean. It was an actually tolerable temperature. Orpheus dipped down beneath the water, wetting his hair before appearing at the surface again and wiping the salt from his eyes.
“Okay, so what you’re going to want to do is just… lay back,” he told L, demonstrating what it was like to lean back and trust the water to take your weight. He stood back up, then placed a hand gently on the small of L’s back. “I’ll support you like this so you don’t have to worry about going under. When you feel like you’re stable, just say ‘okay,’ and I’ll let go. You won’t be able to hear yourself very well, but I’ll be able to.” He didn’t know how to describe the weird feeling of having your ears underwater, but he figured it was probably a good thing to mention so L didn’t freak out.