milliways_bar | (no subject)

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orpheus

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After his last meal at the bar, Orpheus thought that perhaps Sinric was right. That he did need some rest of the more traditional sort, so he went through his door, back to his boat to sail a little while longer.

He hadn't expected to be gone for more than a week, but it's much longer than that when his boat, without him guiding it there, sails its way into the Caribbean Inlet. Orpheus guides it in until he can drop anchor and swims his way to the shore. (He wears shorts. Just in case.)

He knows where he is, of course, but he's in no rush to go inside, so he lays on his back on the beach with his eyes closed and soaks in the sun, singing a quiet tune of gratitude for light and warmth.

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There's a scruffy young man coming down to the water to wash soil off his hands from where he's been measuring out a new garden. He's followed by two cats - a black adult queen and a ginger and white adolescent tom chasing her tail.

Bodhi smiles as he listens to the song, quiet so he doesn't disturb the singer.

The tom cat is less considerate and comes bouncing over, chasing a leaf on the breeze and crashes into Orpheus.

"Kyber!" The young man shakes his head. "I'm sorry. He gets carried away."

The cat almost crashes into Orpheus, but Orpheus does this thing with his song, and the leaf changes course (or the wind does, it's difficult to say).

He still catches a tail to the face when Kyber turns. He's smiling as he sits up, though, so he's clearly not holding it against anyone. "He can hardly be blamed," Orpheus says. "It's in his nature."

Orpheus rather likes cats. Most animals, really.

Kyber has a leaf to chase, that's all that matters to him.

Bodhi comes over, tickling the kitten's ears as Kyber tackles his leaf. "Kyber's pretty good at doing whatever he likes. It's kind of liberating just following him around. Myrrh keeps him out of the worst trouble." The black cat chirps a positive and stretches out on the warm sand.

"I'm Bodhi, by the way."

Orpheus hums a little as he watches the kitten, and that leaf keeps twitching under Kyber's paws.

"Orpheus," he says with a smile. Nodding to Bodhi's hands, he adds, "Doing a spot of gardening?"

Bodhi looks over his shoulder, back the way they came and smiles. It's an honest smile, simple and heartfelt. "The bar's allowed me an area to plant my own garden. To grow my own herbs and vegetables." From the tone in Bodhi's voice he couldn't imagine anything more wonderful.

Orpheus grins. That's a familiar tone to him. "You ought to meet my aunt," he says. "Never have gardens been lovelier than hers."

"I was grateful for the balcony garden the bar gave us. I never expected-" He smiles again.

"Oh? What does she grow? Is she-" he's still not sure how to ask this, "from Earth?"

"She is from Earth," he affirms with a nod. "Where she is a goddess. So, I suppose it's not quite fair to compare any garden to hers." He hasn't been there in far too long. With a glance out toward his boat, he wonders if he shouldn't sail back to the Mediterranean for a while. Things have calmed down enough at home that he can be out in public without being immediately noticed.

"She grows many things. Herbs and vegetables, flowers and trees. They all flourish under her touch."

He's waxing nostalgic now.

"Sounds wonderful." Bodhi smiles, glad that Orpheus' memories are good ones.

"I came from a very poor moon. A cold desert. The soil was very poor and it rained maybe once or twice in a life time." He shrugs, "I can never get over how green it is here."

Kyber abandons his leaf to chase Myrrh's tail. Myrrh is less than impressed.

Orpheus looks around, taking in their surroundings with a faint smile and a low whistle. "I've been in deserts, but even I have never been somewhere so dry."

He likes he water, beaches in particular. "You got into gardening here, I'm guessing?"

Bodhi nods. "I... we... my husband and we, we're started again here. We're free now."

Oh, yep. There it is. That suckerpunch feeling that sucks the breath from him for a moment. He's been away long enough this time that he'd thought it might have eased some, but it clearly hasn't.

His smile vanishes completely, and when he speaks, there's a gruffness to his voice that comes from trying to speak around a lump in his throat. His hand moves to the ring that hangs from a chain around his neck. "Good. That's...Milliways is good for that."

Edited 2018-06-16 06:29 (UTC)

Bodhi frowns. "What- I said something to offend you?" There's a tightness to his shoulders, as if expecting to defend himself for loving a man, and loving Galen specifically.

"I have taken no offense," Orpheus assures him. His hand slips into his pocket, fingers curling around the harmonica tucked inside. "Nor have you said anything to cause it.

"Forgive me," he adds. "I'm not always the best company for those who are...happy in their love."

"Oh, I see." Bodhi nods, glancing down at his own wrists. His rolled up shirt sleeves show the scars at his wrists, scars he hastily covers up. "I... I know how that can be."

Edited 2018-06-16 06:40 (UTC)

Orpheus has scars of his own. Well, one scar that runs the circumference of his throat, jagged and uneven and very, very old.

"I didn't mean to sour your joy," he says. It's one of a lot of things he's been getting better at lately.

Bodhi shakes his head. "You haven't." He glances back up to the garden. "I have my own patch of fertile soil. And I can plant anything I like." He laughs softly. "It might seems like a silly thing to be thrilled by but-" he shrugs. "A year ago I couldn't imagine being okay again, let alone happy."

"Then you are a fortunate man indeed," Orpheus says. "To find happiness in simplicity is no easy task."

"My life was... complicated." Bodhi shrugs. "Being dead is easier."

"As I said, you're a fortunate man. "You have what you want and you want what you have."

Bodhi nods, "I have been very lucky. Luckier than I deserve." He cocks his head at Orpheus, "I hope... I hope you find some happiness too. Can you visit your aunt's garden?"

"I think happiness is not in my fate," Orpheus says. He doesn't sound like this particularly bothers him. More like it's a fact in his life he's long since accepted.

"But I can visit my aunt, if I like." He probably should. She's the only person he knows at home with whom he could be honest about...everything. He hasn't seen Apollo or his mother in far too long. "And find some rest."

"It's been a while since you've seen her?"

"A little while, I suppose," he says with a shrug. "Eight or nine years, maybe?"

"Do you miss her?" It's asked simply and openly. "The only family I had left at the end were my sisters. And I hadn't seen them for nearly five years."

He has to think about that a moment. "Perhaps," is the only answer he can give.

"Is five years quite a long time?" His perspective on time is somewhat skewed.

Bodhi shrugs. "I guess... I..." Guilt crosses his expression. "I did things, worked for... for terrible people to get them to safety. I wish- I wish I'd been able to see them- before I died."

"But you got them to safety?" Orpheus asks. That's all that really matters, right?

He nods. "Gendius V. A peaceful Imperial world. They got good jobs. And when plague broke out on that world, they were smart enough to shed their identities and blend in with the aid workers." He smiles fondly. "They were always smarter than me."

"You've done well, then," Orpheus says with a smile. "And you can rest easily in your death."

Bodhi nods with a slight shrug. He still wishes he'd been able to say goodbye to the girls. "Do you have any siblings?"

"I had a brother once," Orpheus says. "A long time ago."

He doesn't think of Linus often.

Bodhi nods, understanding the past tense. He had brothers too. "At least you have your aunt and her garden." speaking if which, he glances over his shoulder. "I should get back and finish up. Thanks, for talking."

"Yes," Orpheus says softly. His hand moves to touch the ring hanging around his neck on a chain as if to assure himself it's still there. "At least I have her."

He shakes his head and smiles. "Enjoy your garden, Bodhi. It was good to meet you."

"It was nice to meet you too." Bodhi answers honestly. He whistles to the cats who happily follow him back up the beach.

{ooc: thanks very much for the thread.}

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