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[golden_lyre]

It is the longest and therefore, theoretically, the sunniest day of the year, and Orpheus fully intends to make the most of that. He's out by the lake, sitting under a tree, strumming his guitar.

(The song, somewhat redundantly, is in praise of Apollo and brings the feeling of basking in sunshine, even if you should choose to sit in the shade. It has the bonus of not being able to produce sunburn.)

Comments

[sunbaked_baker]

A little girl had come out to bask in just that same sunlight. She settles on the grass where the shadows don't touch, unconsciously smiling at the musician and his song.

[golden_lyre]

Orpheus can't help smiling at her. It reminds him of is (very, very long ago) childhood.

[sunbaked_baker]

Rae flops onto the grass, relaxed and happy to be lazy. It's cooler here than it is at home, but the sun is no less blazing or bright.

And the music is lovely. There's often music at the coffeehouse when she's there, helping her mother, but it's never anything like this.

[golden_lyre]

And the music continues, shifting to include the happy laziness that basking in the sun can bring.

[sunbaked_baker]

This is good. It's later in the summer back home than it is here, but only by a few weeks. She'd turned ten, this midsummer. She and her grandmother had been able to meet again out at the lake, and everything was sunlight and goodness. Despite the strain she could see at the corners of her grandmother's eyes.

Bad times were coming. The grownups thought they could keep the kids from noticing. But they did. Everyone knew.

That was a world away, now. There was just peace, and music, and laziness, and midsummer sunshine.

[golden_lyre]

Orpheus' song feeds into that as well, washing over her like a blanket of tranquility. Nothing can be wrong here. Not at the solstice.

[sunbaked_baker]

Rae has been told it's bad manners to yawn, but she can't help it. She holds it in as long as she can, but ultimately is defeated. She's just so comfortable. If she's not careful, she'll doze off.

Making herself turn over onto her stomach, she lifts her head and looks at the man with the guitar. It'd be rude to interrupt, she knows, but it's only a matter of time before she does.

"How do you play so good?" Her mother isn't here to correct her, or admonish her for interrupting the music.

[golden_lyre]

He doesn't mind. If he were left to his own devices, he would almost never stop playing.

"I had a very good teacher," he says, continuing to play absently, even as he answers her.

[sunbaked_baker]

"How old were you when you started learning?" she asks, curious about how long it takes to learn like that when one has a good teacher. And presumably a bit of talent.

She figures him as a grownup, but not as old as her mother or Charlie.

[gorgonfondness]

There's a little boy Orpheus might remember from the first night he came to Milliways. He's having the time of his life, running around in the grass. There's a flower crown sitting on his head and some flowers clutched in his tiny hands.

The song just amplifies his joy and he runs over to Orpheus, holding a flower out to him.

"Fower!" he declares.

[golden_lyre]

Orpheus does indeed remember him, and when the boy reaches him, he pauses his strumming, taking the flower. "Thank you, Cepheus."

[gorgonfondness]

"No," Cepheus says, holding firmly onto the flower.

And then he reaches up, trying to put it behind the musician's ear.

Mia is not far off, keeping an eye on her son and working on another flower crown. When he had seen what his mother was doing before, he just had to have the first one she made.

"Cepheus, are you sharing?" she asks when she's a bit closer.

[golden_lyre]

"Ah, forgive me," Orpheus answers, allowing the adornment with a smile (and perhaps helping a bit with its placement).

When Mia gets closer, the musician smiles up at her as well. "He is. Quite well, in fact."

[gorgonfondness]

"Good," Mia says, finishing the flower crown and putting it on her own head. "Never too early to start learning. And this is the first summer he's gotten to really play since he was a bit too little last summer."

Saying as much seems impossible with Cepheus looking every bit like the summer was made just for him.

"Hi Mama," he says, holding up one of the flowers to put behind her ear now.

She bends over to accommodate the gesture.

"He's especially fond of s-w-i-m-m-i-n-g but I forgot his floaties for that."

[golden_lyre]

Orpheus watches him play with a somewhat wistful smile. There was a time when he would have liked to have a son of his own.

"How unfortunate for us both. I'm fond of it myself, but I have no one to go with."

[gorgonfondness]

"That is a shame. We should invite you to come along sometime, Orpheus. His daddy likes the water, too."

The baby starts to sing, "Habby burr-day do yoooou, habby burr-day do yooou..."

Mia smiles and explains, "It was his daddy's birthday earlier this month. He learned how to sing a birthday song for him and liked it so much that he'll sing it whenever he gets the chance."

"Habby BUUUUUURR-DAAAAY da Daaaaddyyyy! Habby burr-day do yoooooou!" Cepheus finishes, clapping his hands and the flowers together.

[golden_lyre]

"I'd like that," Orpheus says, and he laughs softly at Cepheus' song, clapping along with him.

"That's very good, Cepheus. You've quite the talent."

[alsoagreengrass]

"Follow the sound of the guitar, and there you'll find Orpheus."

Scorpius, quite literally, has dropped from sky. Though, gracefully so, landing on his feet and with his broom in hand.

"Hi."

[golden_lyre]

Orpheus grins as Scorpius approaches, fascinated by his flight.

"Not every guitar, I hope. Not bad guitar, certainly."

[alsoagreengrass]

"Not bad, no. Though, maybe, er - Dangerous. If I blame your song for wanting to dive for the sunniest rock and have a nap, anyway."

He'd have burned terribly, if he'd done so. His nose is a bit pink already, just from his flight.

So now he's going to cozy into Orpheus' shade and steal his tree.

[golden_lyre]

"Dangerous guitar is almost certainly me," Orpheus answers with a smug smirk that turns to amusement as Scorpius settles next to him.

"I certainly didn't induce you to dive for the shade..."

[alsoagreengrass]

"No, you did that too. It's only, you looked rather comfortable. So I had to see what the fuss was about and, uhm, it so happens that it is a rather good spot."

Nice views, and all.

[golden_lyre]

"Oh, is it now?" He gives Scorpius a smirk--yes, that smirk--and leans toward him a bit.

[alsoagreengrass]

And Scorpius' cheeks are suddenly as pink as his nose and getting redder.

"Yeah, you've got, er - A nice view of the lake and the tree. The tree's shade too, that is. And, uhm. You're smirking again."

Because, maybe, Orpheus wasn't aware of that last fact?

[golden_lyre]

"It is a lovely tree," Orpheus agrees, still smirking, still leaning.

Oh, he's aware. He's quite aware.

"Am I? It's something of an ingrained response."