ℍ𝕖𝕣𝕖'𝕤 𝕥𝕠 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕣𝕖𝕤𝕥 𝕠𝕗 𝕦𝕤 - H&S

Orpheus stared up at the giant house in front of him, instantly intimidated by the building. He didn’t really understand why they had to move there. He had liked their old home perfectly well, and he didn’t like the idea of sharing Mr. Hermes with a stranger. But they had been told this was what they had to do, so… maybe that was the truth. He stepped up to the door as Hermes knocked, wincing as he waited to meet his fate.

Orpheus grabbed Mr. Hermes’ hand at the last second, not caring what the boy they were supposed to meet thought about it. If he wanted to think Orpheus was a baby… that was fine. If he was going to judge Orpheus for being scared, then Orpheus probably had a reason to be scared. That was what he tried to tell himself, at least.
He only saw the man who opened the door, though. The boy didn’t seem to be there.

Mr. Hermes was making conversation with the other man, and though Orpheus was within earshot, he wasn’t paying attention to what they were saying. He was looking for signs of the other boy he was told lived here. Anything that might give him a hint about who that boy was. Would they have things to talk about? Would he think Orpheus was too weird to talk to at all? Orpheus pushed the thought away, instead tightening his grip on Mr. Hermes’ hand.

Orpheus blinked, surprised to see the other kid poking his head out from around the corner. Oh. He was… well… much less intimidating than Orpheus had anticipated. That didn’t mean he wasn’t mean, but it was a good sign. Orpheus raised a tentative hand in greeting, face flushing as he did so. He didn’t know what was appropriate, but being nice seemed better than any other option he had. Besides, if the other boy had been hiding, was it possible that he was as frightened by the prospect of Orpheus as Orpheus had been at the prospect of a stranger?

Orpheus wasn’t thinking about maintaining neutrality. It wasn’t even a thought that had occurred to him. He wanted to believe that he and the boy here could be friends, but if that wasn’t a possibility… then it wouldn’t be his fault. He would be as friendly as he could, and it was up to the other boy if he reciprocated. A small smile appeared on Orpheus’ face as L raised his hand in response. Good… that was a good start, right? He breathed out, then slowly let go of Mr. Hermes’ hand. He glanced at the boy, tilting his head a little – it was almost as though he was asking for an invitation.

Orpheus hesitated for a short moment before he looked up at Mr. Hermes – busy in conversation with the other man – and decided that he wasn’t needed at the moment. Which meant he could go talk to the other boy. He swallowed, trying to push away his nerves before he began to approach the corner the other boy had ducked behind. He glanced back, only to see Mr. Hermes gesturing him forward like he knew exactly what Orpheus was trying to do. Maybe he did. Did that mean he was doing the right thing? He hesitated, then pushed away the last of his nerves and rounded the corner.

Orpheus started as soon as he realized how close L was. He took a quick step back, a quick squeak of “Sorry!” escaping his lips. He glanced away, hugging his arms to his chest as he tried to determine exactly what to make of the situation.
“I… didn’t mean to get so close,” he whispered, staring at the ground for a moment before he risked a glance back up at L. “My name is Orpheus.” He didn’t know if the other boy had been told about him, but he had a feeling an introduction would be nice anyway.

“You don’t… need to say sorry,” Orpheus replied, trying to give L a small smile. He didn’t think L had done anything actively malicious, he just… hadn’t expected Orpheus to round the corner so quickly. That was probably Orpheus’ fault as much as it was L’s. Or maybe it wasn’t either of their faults. He took a small step back; not sure how much space was a good amount of space. He hadn’t spent much time at all around kids his own age, and it seemed like an important thing to do right, especially since he was expected to live with L. That was a frightening prospect. Not because L seemed unkind, but because Orpheus had only ever lived with Mr. Hermes. He had a hard time imagining what it would be like to have someone else in his space.
“It’s… nice to meet you, L.” Orpheus’ shoulders hunched and he bit his lip. He was more nervous than he had expected to be. He just… didn’t want to mess this up.

Orpheus blinked, frowning just a little bit at the question. He didn’t know if it would be rude to admit that he didn’t want to be there at all, but he wasn’t good at lying. He could just… not mention it… but that felt a little bit dishonest, too.
“I’m here as long as Mr. Hermes wishes to stay here,” he said after a moment, deciding that was the truest way he could say that. It wasn’t inaccurate. “I mean… if I really, really hate it here, Mr. Hermes might consider leaving sooner, but… it’s really about him. As long as I’m not suffering tremendously…” he looked down, cheeks flushing red as he realized what he had said. If L were the kind of kid who liked picking at other kids’ weaknesses, Orpheus had just given him the keys to his destruction. He had to hope that L wasn’t the kind of kid who took pleasure in hurting others. Even if he wasn’t… if he didn’t want Orpheus and Hermes there, how far would he go to get rid of them? Suddenly uncomfortable, Orpheus took another small step back. He wanted to be friends with L. He didn’t want the other boy to feel like he had to bully him away. Maybe they’d even get used to each other…

“Medium suffering?” Orpheus asked, eyes widening a little bit. He wasn’t sure if that was a threat, but from the genuine way L was looking at him… he found he didn’t believe it was. It was just an honest question. Or maybe that was just Orpheus being idealistic. If that was the case… it didn’t matter. He wasn’t going to stop being idealistic just because his new housemate turned out to be mean. That would be like letting a bully win, and that was the last thing Orpheus wanted to do. He was going to remain hopeful. He was going to retain his belief in humanity.
“I guess… as long as I’m not actively in danger, and as long as it won’t really hurt me in the long run, then… Mr. Hermes believes that I can push through it. So if I’m medium suffering, then I guess I just have to stay here and try to do my best not to let it get to me. If Mr. Hermes believes that being here is for the best… then he’s probably right.” Which wasn’t to say that Orpheus never questioned Mr. Hermes, it just meant that he had accepted he didn’t really get a say in this.
“Honestly?” Orpheus asked, frowning a bit as he searched L’s expression. “I liked where I lived before. I liked when it was just me and Mr. Hermes. But… we move around a lot. I guess… I don’t really want to be here. Sorry.”

Orpheus blushed a little, staring at the ground for a moment before he looked back up at L.
“I guess… I’m apologizing because me not wanting to be here has nothing to do with you. And I don’t want you to think it does. I don’t… really know anything about you, and you seem nice enough already. Actually… if you don’t mind me saying… I think you’re one of the only reasons I’m kind of excited to be here. I’ve never really known any other kids my age, so I’ve never really had friends, and if we don’t hate each other, even if neither of us likes what’s happening… maybe…” he trailed off, face reddening more. He wouldn’t take back what he said. He didn’t regret it, even if he was coming on a little too strong at first.
“Are… you going to do what Mr. Watari says?” Orpheus asked after a moment, eyes widening. “I mean… I guess I’d probably prefer it if you didn’t do anything to make me want to leave on purpose, but… if we really, really don’t like each other, or if this is really, really bad for either you or me and Mr. Hermes and Mr. Watari don’t believe us… then you could try to make me leave on purpose. Cause that would be proof that it’s not working.”

“Oh,” Orpheus replied, brows raising for a moment in pleased surprise. He hadn’t wanted to make L think he didn’t like him. He didn’t know him, and he hadn’t actually been told anything, so there was no way to dislike him. Besides, it took a lot to get Orpheus to dislike a person. They had to be a really bad person to make it happen. Orpheus couldn’t actually think of a single person he disliked, and he had met plenty of people. Of course most of the people he knew were just acquaintances, so they hadn’t had a chance to do anything that Orpheus could dislike them for, but the point still stood. He didn’t think L was going to do anything worthy of actually disliking him.
“Yes, that’s what I meant,” he whispered, voice fragile. He didn’t want to ruin whatever was forming between him and L. He wasn’t naïve enough to believe that it was already friendship, but at the very least… they were allies in this. If L really wanted Orpheus gone, then chances were that Orpheus wasn’t going to want to spend time with L either.
“It should be a mutual decision, though. Either way. We shouldn’t spend lots of time together if only one of us likes the other. And you shouldn’t have to try to get rid of me if only one of us really wants this to end.”

Orpheus had a feeling that most of the people he had met were good people. Hermes met with a lot of people. Mostly people that were travelling, or people that had a destination and had gotten lost. Often those people were confused, but they had good stories. Orpheus had made a game out of turning their stories into songs. Of course… they had all left by the time the songs were done. Orpheus had dreams sometimes about finding the people whose stories he had taken inspiration from. He dreamed of playing their song and seeing the way their expressions changed. He dreamed that they told him he had captured the emotions perfectly, or that they offered adjustments that weren’t terribly difficult to make. It had never happened for real, but Orpheus believed it might, one day.
“I’m a really bad liar,” Orpheus admitted, cheeks turning pink. “I think even if I tried to lie to you to make you feel better, you’d be able to tell. Mr. Hermes can tell. I’m sure most other people can, too. Mr. Wa… uh… Watari can probably tell, too. He’s an adult. They’re good at reading things. But anyway, I promise I won’t try to make you feel better by lying.”

Orpheus blinked, a tiny smile touching his lips as he looked at L. The two of them were already getting along better than Orpheus had feared. He had heard that kids could be mean sometimes, and he didn’t want to find out that L was mean the first time he met him. He didn’t want to end up having to live with someone who turned out to be mean. L seemed… well, Orpheus couldn’t say for sure if he was nice, but he could tell already that he wasn’t mean. Which was a better start than he had allowed himself to consider. Although Orpheus was rarely a pessimist, he hadn’t allowed himself to be too hopeful this time. This was possibly a permanent change, and Orpheus had no way of knowing if other kids his age would like him at all. Adults often said he was precocious, which felt like slang for ‘not likely to get along with other kids his age.’
“I think Mr. Hermes can tell with me just cause I’m really bad at it. But maybe he’s psychic, too. I… don’t know. I guess we’ll find out if you ever lie to Mr. Hermes and he figures it out.”