(Untitled)

[golden_lyre]

[OOM: Out of his sleep, from time to time,
From between half open lips,
Escaped the bewildered words which try to tell
The tale of his bright night
And his wing-shadowed day
The soaring flights of thought beneath the sun
Above the islands of the seas
And all the deserts, all the pastures, all the plains
Of the distracting foreign land.]Orpheus'

Comments

[alsoagreengrass]

Orpheus is quiet. Too quiet for Scorpius as he knows him. And the drinking -

Well.

Scorpius sets aside his butterbeer with a frown.

"All right?"

[alsoagreengrass]

Scorpius sighs with worry and frowns.

"What happened?"

[golden_lyre]

"He asked for it. He wanted to know, so I told him. But they never know. They never understand what they're asking for."

[alsoagreengrass]

"Okay," Scorpius murmurs as he thinks about that with a wrinkle of his nose.

"D'you think, er - Do you think we ought to start wearing signs about approved conversation topics so anyone asking knows what not to ask ahead of time?

"I'm not certain that'd actually work, though. Because some might ask anyway."

[golden_lyre]

"Politics, religion, and sex," Orpheus says, picking up the bottle again.

"Ouzo?" He's already forgotten Scorpius hadn't wanted any earlier.

[alsoagreengrass]

"Sure."

Scorpius will give the ouzo a try. He won't promise he'll keep drinking it, though.

"So, uhm - Those are your three choice topics? Do you want to talk politics now then?"

He can, at the very least, try and take Orpheus' mind off of whatever is bothering.

[golden_lyre]

A glass appears on the bar, and Orpheus fills it, spilling a bit over the edge.

"No no no no no. Politics, religion, and sex. Never on a first date."

He pays almost no attention whatsoever to politics, his religion is all but obsolete, and he has a feeling Scorpius is not going to want to talk sex.

[alsoagreengrass]

"Okay."

Scorpius scratches at his jaw, shaking his head with a grin, before he accepts the drink. He only takes a sip for now.

"What do you want to talk about then?"

[golden_lyre]

He's not sure, really. And maybe this is a bad idea, but the first thing out of his mouth is, "Tell me about your...Albus."

[alsoagreengrass]

That might be a bad idea. Scorpius might end up happily rambling on and on about him.

"Albus?"

He takes another (longer) drink of the ouzo.

"He's, uhm - He's my age. We're in the same house at Hogwarts, but he's - He's the sort you think of when you think of Ravenclaw. Clever, brilliant, works hard, studies hard. He reads a lot. That sort of thing.

"He's decent and kind and, uhm - He's good, right? Just, a good person. He's easy to talk, not as shy as I thought he was, and, I don't know, I'm completely mad for him."

He shakes his head, reddening in the face.

[golden_lyre]

Orpheus nods, listening seriously. He doesn't even tease Scorpius about blushing.

"How does he make you feel?"

[alsoagreengrass]

Scorpius wets his lip and presses them together as he thinks of the right words.

"Sort of silly, I think," he says finally, shrugging shyly. "Almost irrational rather. I'm happy when I'm with him, more so than with any other person, waiting to see him again when I'm not, and scared he'll decide he's made a colossal mistake."

[golden_lyre]

Orpheus nods again, smiling a bit, leaning forward precariously on his stool.

"That sounds about right. And it isn't silly. Don't let anyone tell you that. It's the most...important thing. Impact. It has impact."

[alsoagreengrass]

Scorpius burns a bright red and he gives a shy.

"Okay."

[golden_lyre]

"Okay," Orpheus repeats, nodding firmly like he's just imparted a hidden mystery to Scorpius and is satisfied it will be remembered.

[alsoagreengrass]

Scorpius will, most certainly, remember.

He nudges Orpheus in the shoulder.

"Don't fall out of your seat."