itscurtains | Week Three

Entry tags:

act 3,
week 3

Week Three

[Last week, some shit went down! Salieri's scene went off without a hitch, but the good mood didn't last. The first motive was a bit of a doozy, and yet it didn't even have anything to do with the eventual accidental death of Mumble Happyfeet! At least Sissi was already pretty much dating Death anyway, right? She's probably fine, wherever she is.

This week, new menus have been posted in the cafeteria. But, more importantly, it seems that other new information has emerged. Everyone wakes on Sunday with some new memories - or are they old ones? - floating around in their heads. Maybe there was something to your discussions of time travel after all. Maybe there was someting to the Wizard's knowledge of the future.

Regardless, you're still stuck in here. At least there's some new places to explore this week. Maybe you'll find something helpful.]

Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday

(( Be sure to submit your memory regains and your AC for this week! Hester's office hours and the merch booth also remain available! ))

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[ Something is definitely wrong here, but Orpheus isn't sure what it is or what to do about it, so he just... keeps talking. ]

That makes sense? The book said he liked practical jokes and party tricks. [ He frowns a little, pausing to study Maestro Salieri's face, and asks, innocently, ] Did he do something wrong?

[Salieri's lips press together a bit]

...he...that is to say, I don't believe our personalities match up well.

[ Orpheus nods, slowly. ]

I never met Aunt Euterpe, but mom said she always gravitated towards, um. Eccentrics? [ orpheus that's probably not helping - ] I guess I can imagine he could be kind of hard to get along with.

Eccentric might be a bit of an understatement. [he can't quite help the bit of snideness that comes into his tone, but he'll do his best to smooth his expression] ...ah, anyway. Apologies, I didn't mean to interrupt your reading.

Oh, it's not a problem! I probably should get back to reading about preserving things, anyway.

[ He glances over at the stack of actually relevant books next to him. ]

I just found this and got curious, but you probably got a better idea of what he was like than this book has.

[ What with it literally being aimed at small children. ]

Ah, well, our perceptions and others' perceptions of us can certainly change over time. Perhaps he changes after I meet him.

[He doesn't really believe that, of course. Not with such a boorish personality--

but his tone is pleasant enough]

[ Orpheus nods. ]

Maybe! It also sounds like this book was written a long while after his time, and I know sometimes stories about people change, depending on who's doing the telling and how long it's been.

[ You have no control, who lives, who dies, who tells your story. Orpheus goes quiet for a second, thinking, before saying, apropos of almost nothing, ]

I wish I'd gotten to meet my aunts? Not just, because of all the people they got to know and work with, but. In general.

[Well that is...not what he expected. But this sounds like a Conversation so he'll just...move to sit down next to him] Oh? You never got to meet them?

[ The change of subject makes perfect sense to Orpheus at least, so that probably makes one of them. It's a clear line straight through thinking about how people are remembered to thinking about his immortal relatives who knew those people to wishing he knew them better, but since he leaves the train of thought that got him there unvoiced, well... ]

Mom talked about them sometimes? Mostly when teaching me about their past proteges' works. But I never got to talk to any of them. Aunt Melpomene might've visited once or twice when I was a baby, but I'm not sure about that? They were all really busy. It was an important time to be a Muse, back home.

Was it? How so?

Mostly there's just - a lot happening, over in the Eastern US, that makes it a really good time to be an artist. A lot of people who weren't recognized as having voices before are finally being given their dues now, which means there's all sorts of new kinds of music and dance and poetry that most people have never seen before coming out of the cities.

[ Orpheus lightens up considerably at this, smiling again. It's an easier subject to talk about for him than his family, that's for sure. ]

Mom said it's a new renaissance, which means she and her sisters are needed more than ever, to inspire those artists to greater heights.

Really? That does sound like an exciting time. [he pauses a moment, tilting his head] I suppose it's not so shocking that they're so busy, then.

It is! I don't get to visit the cities often to see it firsthand? But sometimes we get okay reception on the radio at the bar, and sometimes musicians and other artists come through town and teach me what they know.

[ Fond memories! ]

The Muses are always busy, but now especially. It's... um. It's why I'm so grateful for the time mom did spend with me, before she went back to work.

[ He tries very hard to maintain his smile and positive demeanor through that last sentence, and does not succeed. ]

[oh

oh buddy

Salieri's brow furrows slightly at that, but he moves to reach out and gently rest a hand on Orpheus's forearm]

It's...difficult when a parent leaves, for whatever reason that might be.

How long was she able to be with you?

Um.

[ Orpheus has to think about that, which is already kind of a bad sign. The good news is considering it distracts him from that concerned look on Salieri's face, at least. ]

The last time I saw her was when I turned seven? But she'd been gone for a while before that, working with someone who was writing a really important novel. When she showed up it was a really big surprise.

[ And he tries to say it like it was a good thing, like it was some great birthday gift, having her back even for that short time, because shouldn't it be? Seeing his mom again after all that time? But his expression falls even further despite his best efforts, and he looks away. ]

I wasn't... very grateful, at the time. I don't even remember what she said to me. I just remember crying when she had to go again.

[ And this is... a lot, to drop on someone he's known all of three weeks, but Orpheus is very much not a private person, and sometimes things just come out of his mouth before he can really think about them. He does seem to realize this, though, and forces himself to lighten up. ]

It's okay, though. I've had Mister Hermes to look after me, ever since.

[If Salieri is bothered by the heaviness of the subject, he doesn't show it]

It couldn't have been easy, to have so little of her there. And as a child, how were you to know she would leave again so soon?

[he's quiet a moment, then--]

I'm glad you had someone else to look out for you, though.

It wasn't. [ Orpheus laughs, a little bit. ] I wanted to be with her all the time, when I was little, and I was always so upset when she went away. I didn't understand what could've been more important to her than me, not then.

[ He forces another smile. ]

Mister Hermes is great, though. He's always really busy, too, but he used to take me with him when he had to go away on business sometimes. That's how I got to see as much of the country as I have? Not nearly as much as Eurydice has, but I'm grateful for it.

[Salieri is quiet for a moment, at that]

...I doubt I am in a position to judge your mother's choices and the requirements of her job, however...a child should not have to grow up without his mother. It happens; I know it does. And yet...it doesn't seem fair. Even if you had another guardian, which I'm glad you did, it doesn't make the absence of your mother any less difficult.

[ Orpheus just looks at Salieri for a moment, sad-eyed despite his attempts to smile through it, before looking down at his hands. ]

A lot of people do these days, though. Times are - they're really hard, back home. A lot of families get split up for one reason or another. [ People dying, or having to leave to find work, or just not being able to care for one another. ] I'm just glad for the time we did have? And that I know she's still out there and is okay.

[ He doesn't sound glad about it, but he has to be, right? It's so much more than so many others have. He doesn't want to be ungrateful. ]

[he's still got a hand on Orpheus's forearm as his friend continues and at the end of that, Salieri can't help but gently squeeze, reassuring]

I...please don't take this the wrong way, Orpheus, however...I think it would be alright if you weren't. Glad, that is. At least, not only glad. It is possible to be both glad for the time that you had, but also perhaps not glad for how short and brief it was.

Edited 2021-07-23 20:02 (UTC)

[ Orpheus glances back up at that, watching Salieri's face with some confusion as what he's saying starts to sink in. An offer of... understanding, for something he's been trying to bury for a very long time.

Quietly, he'll allow himself to admit, ]

It doesn't feel right. Wanting more. Most people with divine parents don't ever get to meet them. She already gave me so much. But I - sometimes I wonder if she would have stayed, for me, if I were a better poet, or a better singer, or an author good enough to deserve the attention of a muse. I tried for a really long time, to be good enough, but.

[ He shakes his head. ]

Other people need her more. And I have to be okay with that.

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Week Three

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this probably needed a parental abandonment cw way earlier

cw: being >:/ abt parental abandonment

cw: being :< about parental abandonment

cw: being :\ about parental abandonment

cw: parental abandonment feelings continue