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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Aug 7, 2021 17:03:57 GMT -5
“Oh,” Elpis murmured, a little surprised by the revelation. They hadn’t really expected that, but it did make them feel a little bit better…they knew they probably couldn’t be liked by everyone, but it made them a little bit sad to think someone didn’t like them. Even if it was someone they also didn’t like very much. They looked at the omelette, frowning a little. “I really don’t think it’s going to make you die, for any reason,” they said after a moment. “I’m pretty sure I’d be able to tell that. Does it taste good?” They had incredible power, they were pretty confident they could tell if something was deadly to humans. Not that Orpheus’ fears were entirely unfounded. They were still practically a child, as far as time spent existing went.
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Transgender
strider
No mourners, no funerals
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Post by strider on Aug 7, 2021 19:13:34 GMT -5
Orpheus frowned a little bit, then forced the thought away. Elpis was probably telling the truth – they would be able to tell if something wasn’t safe for him to eat. The only reason he was doubting it was because of L’s paranoia. It wasn’t unreasonable paranoia, of course, but it still was paranoia. Elpis wasn’t lying, and they were more careful that they seemed. They would make sure that Orpheus didn’t die, and… even if he did, they would bring him back to life. There was nothing to worry about it. “It does,” he confirmed, taking another small bite. He actually took the time to savor this one, eyes closing as he allowed the flavor to melt over his tongue. “It’s really good. I’m not sure it tastes like anything else I’ve ever eaten, actually. That’s… a good thing. I think. I’m pretty sure it’s a good thing.”
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Aug 8, 2021 22:46:43 GMT -5
Elpis nodded a little, relaxing as Orpheus seemed to relax. It wasn’t going to hurt him. It was going to be fine. “Have you ever had an omelette?” They asked, tilting their head a little as they watched him. “I guess mine might taste a little different even if you have. It’s hard to really make sure I got that right when I’ve never eaten anything before.” This was all new territory for them. They weren’t confident that they knew what they were doing, but they were going to try their hardest to figure it out. Even if it ended up taking a while. Even if they made more mistakes first. They couldn’t be blamed for what they didn’t know, could they?
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Aug 10, 2021 0:41:39 GMT -5
Elpis smiled a little, pleased that if nothing else, it did taste good. They hadn’t really had cause to try their hand at making food before, after all. They could have just made something that should really be an omelette, yet was completely inedible. Their powers broke the rules of what made sense, a little bit. Or maybe they just used different ones. Either way, the point was that Elpis was relieved that their omelette was edible and tasted good, and that they didn’t have to just…blink food from elsewhere and hope that it could be eaten outside it’s world. Or something. Worse case scenario they’d have intervene and try to make Orpheus not need food, but they would rather not touch inside his head during the experiment, besides to monitor his brain waves and such. “I don’t…really know,” they admitted, frowning at the food as they considered. “I’ve never tried to, and I don’t have any desire to. The drive to consume things just isn’t there for me.”
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Transgender
strider
No mourners, no funerals
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Post by strider on Aug 10, 2021 1:37:03 GMT -5
Orpheus tilted his head just a little bit, polishing off the omelet as he did so. It really was good, though Orpheus had nothing to compare it to. He had never had an omelet, but he thought he would have to order one when he eventually had a meal with L. It seemed simple enough to make – eggs, cheese, various vegetables…. It was good. Orpheus made a mental note to try it out if he ever had a chance in a kitchen unsupervised again. That seemed… unlikely, especially since Watari was still around. There was no way he would let Orpheus make anything without double checking everything that was in it. “You’re curious about everything else,” Orpheus pointed out, giving a small shrug. “If you ever get that curious about food, you should try it. It’s better than you think it’s going to be. Or maybe that’s just because our bodies are programmed to respond to… what was the word? Positive stimulus… we give it.”
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Aug 19, 2021 13:22:29 GMT -5
Elpis hesitated, glancing down. It was true that they were curious about pretty much everything, but they also hadn’t really considered trying most of those things themself. They were curious about humans, mostly. Whatever they were, they definitely weren’t human. Not physically, at least. They knew Orpheus had said they seemed fairly human to him, but they’d figured out that ‘human’ had multiple meanings. Sometimes it meant your species and sometimes it meant what sort of person you were. Perhaps they were a human sort of person, in an inhuman body. The point was that they hadn’t been all that curious about trying to eat before, but they were tempted now. Maybe after this experiment, they’d try to eat. “I’ll try it,” they agreed. “I still probably know more about humans than whatever I am. I guess if the House was the only one before me, it didn’t really have any way of telling what was unique to it and what was a species thing. We still can’t tell very well, with only two, but it would be interesting to compare ourselves and spot the differences.”
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strider
No mourners, no funerals
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Post by strider on Aug 19, 2021 14:14:28 GMT -5
Orpheus gave a small smile. He didn’t know if eating would actually help Elpis learn anything, but he felt as though it was an experience that they shouldn’t miss out on. Mainly because there were plenty of good flavors, and Orpheus couldn’t imagine not trying any of them. Besides, he had no idea what Elpis would like to eat, so it wasn’t as though he could ever cook for them if they got free. “Lots of humans use mealtime as a way to connect with the people around them. It’s part of the day when you don’t have to be working, so you can slow down and relax and just enjoy the company of whoever you’re with. Eating together is something that… I guess a lot of animals do, but it’s a fundamental part of the human experience. If you’ve never set down to a meal with anyone… I don’t know. It’s a good way to have conversation. You don’t have to be talking all the time, and if you run out of conversation materials, there’s the food right in front of you, so you can talk about that. Talk about whether you like your meal or not, talk about some of your favorite recipes… and you don’t have to be making eye contact the entire time, either, because you have to have at least part of your attention on eating. It’s… it’s enjoyable. I’d like to have a meal with you, at some point.”
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Aug 21, 2021 17:22:20 GMT -5
Elpis glanced down at Orpheus’ plate, considering it as he spoke. So, it wasn’t entirely about the food. It was a social activity too. “Humans are very social,” they noted, looking up at him again. “From what I can tell, that’s true no matter what world it is. Loneliness seems to be a universal experience…I guess that’s why the House works the way it does. People form different worlds can still connect because they’re similar in those ways, whatever differences they have.” They hesitated, thinking that over. Could they get lonely, even if they weren’t human? What happened to humans if they didn’t interact with others? They set that aside for the time being. They were in the middle of a different experiment. “I’d like that,” they replied after a minute, focusing on Orpheus again and giving a shy smile. “It sounds interesting.” Clearly, they needed to watch people more. They’d done it a lot, but it was hard to keep up with all the things they did, let alone figure out why they did them. It was much easier to just have it explained. The best thing was to have both, so they could have the explanation on top of their own experience, and match the two together.
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strider
No mourners, no funerals
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Post by strider on Aug 22, 2021 0:06:37 GMT -5
Orpheus gave Elpis a small smile, finishing off the food on his plate. He wasn’t hungry anymore, but he knew he would be hungry again later. Best not to overeat now… it might make him sleepy earlier than he normally would be. He didn’t want to mess up Elpis’ experiment, especially since it wasn’t like they could repeat it with someone who wasn’t Orpheus. Unless they managed to find a willing test subject… he pushed the thought away. “I hope it’s as interesting as it sounds,” he said after a moment, his smile not fading. He really would like to have Elpis over for lunch when he managed to have a normal life. He had a feeling L would take some convincing, but… if it was only one lunch it wouldn’t be a big deal. Probably. Orpheus pushed the plate away from him, eyes bright as he looked back at Elpis. “We should find a way to pass the time,” he suggested, looking around the room for a long moment. “We could… play a game or something. Have you ever played anything? You probably know of more games than I do, having been to so many worlds... I’d love to learn a new one. One that didn’t exist when I was alive.”
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Aug 26, 2021 20:00:53 GMT -5
Elpis wasn’t sure how likely L was to go for that plan. They still didn’t really know what he and Orpheus had talked about after Elpis had messed up. Hopefully, he understood that it had never been Elpis’ intention to hurt them. Not the way it had apparently come across. They shook their head. They cared more about what Orpheus thought of them than they did what L did, and Orpheus understood. It would be fine. They just had to do their best, and Orpheus would understand that they meant well. “I know of more games,” they replied, looking back at Orpheus. “I don’t think I know how to play many of them, but I can try. What sort of game would you like to play?”
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Aug 28, 2021 22:21:14 GMT -5
Elpis wasn’t planning on spending that much time around L, so it didn’t matter too much if they were never forgiven. They wanted to fix it, of course, but they thought they already had, mostly. No harm done, right? Orpheus had fixed the rules. It wouldn’t happen again. “Oh, that could work,” they agreed thoughtfully. “Um…there’s always chess, but I guess you might not want to play that anymore. Bad memories. Do you know how to play poker? Or freeze tag? We need more people for freeze tag, actually. Some other worlds have games too, but you wouldn’t know them. Sword fighting?” They could just dig around in Orpheus’ head to see what games he knew, of course, but since they were trying to pass the time, it seemed like the conversation was an important thing to continue. No need to speed up the process. They were in no hurry.
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strider
No mourners, no funerals
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Post by strider on Aug 29, 2021 19:48:20 GMT -5
“Is sword fighting a game?” Orpheus asked, eyes wide as he looked at Elpis. It didn’t seem very much like a game… there was definitely strategy involved, but it seemed a lot more like a deadly art than any sort of game. That was, of course, because that’s what it was. “I think… I’d prefer something that will end in a little less bloodshed,” he admitted, cheeks turning a little bit pink. He thought through Elpis’ options, and he couldn’t help feeling like it would be fun to learn a new game. If Elpis didn’t know how to play, though… perhaps it would be best to stick with something familiar. “I have a lot of good memories associated with chess, too,” Orpheus murmured, searching Elpis’ gaze. “It’s not all bad. The House can’t ruin something like that for me just because… just because of what happened. I still remember L teaching me how to play, and that memory is more important to me than the game with the House.” It was hard, that the moment that had won Elpis their freedom had doomed Orpheus to this. Were Elpis’ memories of the chess game positive? “I’ve never played poker before,” he said after a moment. “What’s that?”
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Aug 30, 2021 15:57:22 GMT -5
“It can be, when they aren’t actually trying to hurt each other,” Elpis replied, waving a hand dismissively. “You can sword fight without the killing part. People do it in L’s world sometimes, just for fun. Actually, in a lot of worlds. But it can be a little dangerous if you use sharp swords.” They hesitated, looking at him. Right…he had learned from L. More memories Elpis was unfamiliar with. It was odd, that there was so much of Orpheus’ story they didn’t know. Maybe they’d poke around in his head sometime and see some of it. Or ask him about it. “Poker is a card game,” they began to explain, moving on. “It looks pretty easy to me. You have to get certain cards. I think they’re given randomly, so you don’t know who has what. The goal is to get a lot of…well, money, typically, but that’s not very useful to either of us, so something else would have to work…to be honest, I don’t see why so many humans like it so much. It’s just chance. You can lie about your cards, but you can’t actually control what you have. At least in chess you’re in control.”
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strider
No mourners, no funerals
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Post by strider on Aug 30, 2021 19:41:51 GMT -5
“Right,” Orpheus replied, clearly not sold on the idea. He had never spent much time with large pointy things, and he was fairly certain that he didn’t want to start now. The only times he had ever wielded a weapon was when the House had required it of him. Perhaps it was an unfair association, but… Orpheus figured there were probably more suitable games to be playing to pass the time. Games where he didn’t have to worry about his hand moving without his say while he was holding something sharp and dangerous. He didn’t think that Elpis would take control of him like that, but he wouldn’t put it past the House, if it managed to find them. Hopefully, Elpis had hidden them away securely enough that it wouldn’t be an issue. “We have games of chance where I’m from,” he informed Elpis, seeming unbothered by the idea. “A lot of them are games of luck masquerading as games of skill, but they’re still enjoyable at times. If you don’t want to play poker, though, I understand.” After having so much of their life decided for them, Orpheus could understand why Elpis wouldn’t want to play a game that was based on anything other than their own skill. He could respect that.
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Aug 31, 2021 0:40:11 GMT -5
Elpis was fairly sure they wouldn’t be interrupted this time. They were getting better at this…there seemed to be rules there, too. Orpheus’ rules were about what they were allowed to do. These rules seemed to be more about what was possible. They couldn’t read the House’s mind, and so they assumed it couldn’t read theirs either, but they didn’t know that for sure. Since it had failed to stop them from taking Orpheus, it didn’t seem capable of finding them when they hid themself, just as they couldn’t find it. Mostly…their powers seemed to cancel each other out. They couldn’t do anything to each other. They nodded a little, trying to decide what kind of game would be best to pass the time. Preferably something they could also use to monitor Orpheus’ symptoms, but they were confident they could do that pretty well without help, so that didn’t matter too much. “There are a lot of board games,” they told him finally, leaning their head on their arms as they thought. “There’s monopoly, and 3D chess, and…oh, battleship! I forgot about battleship.”
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strider
No mourners, no funerals
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Post by strider on Aug 31, 2021 2:20:26 GMT -5
Orpheus had no hope of understanding how Elpis managed to hide them both from the House, but he had to admit that he was grateful it was possible. He didn’t know what the odds were of them being found, but he had trusted Elpis this much. He could easily trust them on this matter. The House wasn’t going to find them unless Elpis warned Orpheus first. They seemed to have gotten better at hiding things, too. That was a relief, especially after the first time. The House hadn’t liked what Elpis had done very much, and it had most certainly made retrieving Orpheus as painful as possible for both of them. Not physically, at least, but… it had been incredibly painful (and likely traumatizing) mentally. “Battleship?” Orpheus asked, obviously intrigued by the name. “I don’t know how to play, but that sounds fun. And… I guess you sound excited about it, and since you know a lot more games than I do, I trust you.” Hopefully the game would be fun, and hopefully it wouldn’t be as violent as it sounded. Orpheus may not have wanted to play chess, but he found that learning a new game that Elpis was excited about seemed like it would be worth his while.
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Aug 31, 2021 23:29:25 GMT -5
The abilities Elpis and the House shared were difficult to explain, they’d found. It was hard for most people to understand that time didn’t work the same way, because they weren’t in a world. Of course…technically, it would feel the same. Elpis wasn’t completely clear on what was different about it. Mostly just that it passed differently in the worlds, so five minutes could pass for one person and ten years for someone else. “I watched a battleship marathon one time,” they explained, as the game appeared on the table, replacing the empty plate. “It’s really good at passing time. I didn’t understand the rules at first, but I think I know how it works now.”
— As it turned out, Elpis knew the game well enough to teach it. It wasn’t too complicated, but it had enough strategy involved to be interesting. Orpheus seemed to be doing well. They were monitoring his brain waves still, and they wanted to check in on his thoughts, but somehow that had felt like cheating when they were playing, so they’d decided against it. It wasn’t going to hurt the experiment not to know everything Orpheus was thinking about. They expected he’d be getting tired by now. Since humans had a rhythm to when they stayed awake and when they slept, and Orpheus’ rhythm had been disrupted, they would probably notice the effects. Unless the House had messed with them too much for that to happen…they hoped he was still human enough for this to work properly. “How are you feeling?” They asked, leaning forward a little and resting their elbows on the table.
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strider
No mourners, no funerals
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Post by strider on Aug 31, 2021 23:45:04 GMT -5
It was easy enough to pass time by playing games. Orpheus had enjoyed the games they were playing, and he was relieved that Elpis didn’t seem to be fishing around in his head. He was half certain that was how the House had won their chess game all those blinks ago. It had agreed not to look into his mind, but… he didn’t believe that it had refrained. Maybe he had just gotten cynical. It was a depressing thought. He didn’t want to be cynical. He wanted to be as optimistic and idealistic as he had once been, but the world didn’t work like that. “Hm?” Orpheus asked, catching on to the rather intense way Elpis was looking at him. He had gotten so lost in the game that he hadn’t stopped to think about the reason they were playing in the first place. While enjoyable, they weren’t spending time with each other for friendship’s sake. They had a goal here, and Orpheus was helping Elpis fulfill it. “I guess… I’m not too tired, honestly,” Orpheus admitted, a tiny smile touching his lips. “I mean… I usually stay up… I don’t know how long I usually stay up, but I think it’s a little bit longer than this. I guess… I’m starting to get a little bit sleepy.” He gave a small shrug, leaning back and staring at the game board before looking back up at Elpis. “Do you think L knows any of these games? I think he’d like some of them, even if they aren’t quite as complicated as chess.”
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Aug 31, 2021 23:54:10 GMT -5
Elpis wasn’t sure whether he could tell when they were in his head or not. They didn’t think he probably could…he couldn’t tell when the House was, after all…but they also knew they hadn’t had nearly as much time to practice as the House had. Had it learned out to do it without being noticed, or was that just how it worked naturally? It was one more question they’d have loved to ask, but they knew the chances of getting the House to answer were even worse than the chance of talking to it in the first place. If it ever spoke to them, it would probably either be to manipulate them, or because it didn’t have a choice. They nodded a little, noting Orpheus’ reply. It wasn’t very specific…not too tired but a little sleepy. Still, they couldn’t complain. Orpheus didn’t have a scale. They glanced at the games, considering them and what they knew of L. “I think he probably does, a lot of these are from his world and time,” they replied honestly. “I don’t know if he’s ever played any. I mean…” They glanced at the Jenga box still sitting near the edge of the table. “I don’t know if he’d like them. You’d know that more than I would.”
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strider
No mourners, no funerals
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Post by strider on Sept 1, 2021 0:02:17 GMT -5
Orpheus considered that, nodding a little bit. He had seen L pick up and organize things very specifically before… he had a feeling that L would like that part of Jenga a lot, even if he didn’t enjoy the part of it when the tower fell. Orpheus didn’t like that part very much either – he felt he was at a little bit of a disadvantage there. Elpis had the benefit of not having any human error. Orpheus, a human, had all of it. It meant that he was not quite as precise as Elpis was. There were, of course, games where Orpheus had an advantage, but he found he preferred the games where they were both pretty evenly matched. “Thank you for playing with me,” he murmured, leaning back and resting his head against the wall. He was trying to think of what he would be doing around this time if he were alive and in his own world. It felt like it had been a long time since that had been his situation… he gave a quiet sigh, letting his eyes close for just a moment as he thought. “I would ask you,” he began, opening his eyes again to look at Elpis, “if I could work on a song, but… I have a feeling that might mess up your experiment.”
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Sept 1, 2021 0:15:04 GMT -5
Elpis had felt they were very good at Jenga. They weren’t sure why, but it probably did have something to do with not being human. Or maybe they were just naturally better…who knew. They nodded, smiling a little as the games vanished, no longer needed. The table stayed, though. They thought they might like it there. Was it a good color for the room? They might want to move it a little, maybe…it was something they could figure out later, on their own time, but they liked the idea of having a table in the room. They watched Orpheus instead. He was closing his eyes, so maybe he was more tired than he’d thought he was. “Music,” they repeated thoughtfully. “I don’t see why it would mess anything up. It would keep you busy, but the games did that, too.” They glanced over at the familiar lyre they’d just pulled in, sitting quietly off to one side. “That actually might be a good idea. Physically, you’lol be experiencing exactly the same thing, but it’ll give you something to do. And, also…” They glanced at him, suddenly almost shy. “I’ve…never heard you play.”
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strider
No mourners, no funerals
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Post by strider on Sept 1, 2021 0:23:32 GMT -5
Orpheus liked the table, too. It was useful, but that wasn’t why he liked it. Things didn’t have to be useful in order to be enjoyed. It was just… a nice table. Maybe that was because he had just spent the last several hours making fond memories with the table involved, but… he thought he liked it. And better, he thought Elpis liked it. “Yes, well,” Orpheus replied, a smile touching his lips, “I’ll remind you of that when I surface from a music induced trance twenty-four hours from now with little recollection of the fact time was even passing. I don’t know if it’s something all humans experience or if it’s just me, but… it’s really easy for me to get lost when I play. It’s like time passes, but I don’t realize that it’s happening until I realize a little bit too late that I haven’t eaten or slept in hours.” A tiny flush of pink touched his cheek, but he glanced at the lyre with barely concealed excitement. If Elpis was willing to let him play… “That needs to be remedied,” he whispered, moving towards the lyre and gently pulling it into his hands. Even after all this time, it still felt comfortable and familiar. It felt something like home, in much the same way L did. “Do you have any requests?”
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Sept 1, 2021 0:32:50 GMT -5
Elpis raised an eyebrow, considering that. If Orpheus used a whole day making music…well, it wouldn’t really bother them. It wouldn’t ruin the experiment. As long as Orpheus didn’t sleep, or have caffeine or anything like that…they didn’t think much would mess this up. The changes they were trying to learn about were physical. And mental, technically, but…Orpheus couldn’t avoid symptoms of sleep deprivation with music. He looked…happy. Really happy. Excited for something that had been stolen from him. Elpis wished they’d thought to let him play earlier. It just hadn’t occurred to them. “I don’t really lose track of time like that,” they admitted thoughtfully. “I don’t know if I can, since I’m outside it.” “I…don’t know many songs,” they admitted after a moment, coming just a little bit closer. “And I don’t know any of the ones you’ve written, so…you could play one you wrote. Whichever you feel like.”
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strider
No mourners, no funerals
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Post by strider on Sept 1, 2021 0:37:49 GMT -5
It was odd to Orpheus, imaging what it must be like to have a full existence but to be unaware of most music. It made sense, though. Elpis hadn’t had a childhood surrounded by music. They weren’t close with the god of music. They didn’t have the chance to live on a world and take in everything that world had to offer in terms of sound and music, and… it was a shame. But Orpheus could fix that. He could make sure they had songs to remember. Maybe… maybe one day they would be the only one who would remember his music. It was a harrowing thought, but… he thought he would be pleased to live on in Elpis’ memory even when there was nobody in any world left to even remember his name. “I wrote one for you,” Orpheus admitted, a tiny blush coming to his face. “After we first met. I wanted to play it for you when I next saw you again, but… the House didn’t really make that easy, I suppose. I’ll… play it for you now.” It was amazing to Orpheus that he still remembered all of his songs even after everything he had gone through. His mind had been the House’s chew toy… it was a miracle he could still think, let alone play as though it had only been an hour since he had last picked up the lyre. Gently, Orpheus began plucking at the strings to make sure the instrument was in tune.
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Sept 1, 2021 0:46:10 GMT -5
Elpis had heard music before, while wandering the worlds, but they hadn’t really listened to it that much. It was something they knew about more in theory than in practice…they knew how much it meant to Orpheus, though. It was a very important part of him. It was sad that he’d been forced to lose it for so long. Maybe if they had more experiments like this, Orpheus could play more music sometime. “For me?” They repeated, eyes widening a little. They hadn’t expected that…it meant more to them than they knew how to express. Music was how Orpheus seemed to express himself best, after all. To have mattered enough to be worth the effort creating a song took…before they’d even really known each other… “I knew you would keep your word and look for me,” they murmured, glancing down. “But…I didn’t think…” They offered a small, touched smile and fell silent, waiting for him to play it.
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Transgender
strider
No mourners, no funerals
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Post by strider on Sept 1, 2021 0:52:55 GMT -5
Orpheus gave Elpis a genuine smile as he finished tuning the lyre. It hadn’t been terribly out of tune. How long had it been for the instrument since he had played it? For him it felt like a matter of years, but he had never been good at telling how much time passed when he was in the House. It was possible he had only been like this for a matter of days. That was what the lyre seemed to suggest after all. He didn’t stop to question whether it was truly his lyre. If it wasn’t… he wasn’t sure he really wanted to know. He wanted to believe that it was his, not just a reproduction of it. “Yes, for you,” Orpheus replied, searching their expression. “I told you that I would find you. I told you that you were my friend, and… and that I loved you. I wasn’t lying. If I couldn’t find you, I wanted to have some proof to the world that you existed. That… that you were as real as anyone on my world. I guess I had no idea where we would end up, but… I stand by what I felt.” He glanced down at the lyre, his fingers finding their proper position on the strings. He didn’t know whether they were still appropriately calloused. Somehow, he doubted it. It didn’t matter. He would play anyway. Slowly, he began to play, letting the music overcome him. Letting the feelings he’d had when he had lost Elpis to the House the first time overwhelm him. Hope. They were hope. That name had come to mean something different now, but… they were still hope. Just in a different way.
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Sept 1, 2021 1:02:32 GMT -5
Time didn’t work the same in the House, and that was especially true for Orpheus. Their sense of time was probably mostly gone by now, since they were often not even themself. They remembered those times, when they were with Elpis. They knew how many times they’d been forced to be someone they weren’t, but…did it matter? Remembering something wasn’t the same as having lived it. Orpheus may have remembered what he’d been put through, but he hadn’t been himself at the time, so had he really lived it? They settled on the floor so they could watch, expression softening a little at the words. “I didn’t think you were lying,” they told him quietly. “I just…know that it would have been really easy for you to just assume I wasn’t real. Or even if you didn’t believe that, you could have forgotten me, and nothing would have happened. I guess I just mean…thank you. For being a really good friend to me.” They fell silent as he played, the music sleeping into the room like something alive. They had heard music before, but…not his. Nothing like his. They watched his expression, waiting to see if he’d go into a trance, like he’d said he might. But the music was there, too, making it hard to think too much about that. It pulled at their attention, somehow. They didn’t think they minded.
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