[003] video | un: lyreplayer

[themuseabandonsyou]

[ It's early November when Orpheus posts to the network again, this time sitting cross-legged on the floor of his bedroom with his guitar in his lap and the Omni propped up in front of him. The camera catches him leaning back after having set it to broadcast, and he waves as the recording starts. ]

Hi, everyone! I'm Orpheus, and, I thought of something that might be nice for us to do together? I know we're all busy building new lives here, but I don't think that means we have to forget the places we came from completely, or leave those memories behind. Unless you want to? That's fair too.

[ He pauses briefly, looking thoughtful and a little solemn as he considers that, before shaking his head and getting himself back on track.]

But! In my experience a big part of any place a person calls home is the stories that people tell there and the songs they sing, and it seems like it might be nice to share those with each other, as a way of giving each other a glimpse into where we came from, and of preserving them for the future. It can be anything you want to tell us about, whether it's a piece of history or a legend or a song or even a nursery rhyme you like. You don't have to share anything if you don't want to, of course, but I'd really love to hear anything and everything people are willing to add.

[ OOC: This is a mingle post! Please feel free to comment on other peoples' additions and otherwise tag around. ]

Comments

video; un: Wesson

[family_remains]

Wow. This is really useful. How about next we all sit in a circle and braid each other's hair.

video | un: lyreplayer

[themuseabandonsyou]

[ Sarcasm is something Orpheus struggles with a little bit - he picks up on it here, as it's fairly obvious, but he's not sure what to make of it, brows furrowing in confusion and a little bit of hurt. Unsure of what else to do, he responds as if it were sincere. ]

I don't really have enough hair to braid? I'm sure yours would look really nice, though! You have nice hair.

WOW SURE IS NICE NOT GETTING NOTIFS

[family_remains]

[Poor Orpheus, you've done nothing to deserve this.

Sam snorts. He knows.]

That's gonna be a hard pass from me. Sorry not sorry but I don't really see why everyone waxing poetic about home will do anyone any good.

man don't I know it

[themuseabandonsyou]

[ Orpheus fidgets with his guitar, trying not to look too upset by the dismissal. ]

I just thought it'd be nice, to try to preserve a bit of where we came from. [ he says, worrying his lip slightly. ] Um, are you doing okay, Sam? You seem kind of...

[ Not possessed. Not like he was when the Archangel was in control. But, different? Kind of. Maybe Orpheus is just imagining things, though. ]

[family_remains]

[Not that far off, but in the opposite direction. There's a void in Sam these days. A nothing where something very precious used to sit. He isn't himself, though he'd argue he is, maybe, himself in the purest form.

If there's anything you can bet on its two things: the sun will always rise and there is always something wrong with Sam Winchester.

He begins to answer but Orpheus knowing his name gives Sam pause. Maybe it isn't unusual for people to know who he is amongst their population but that doesn't mean he likes it.]

Do I know you?

>private

[themuseabandonsyou]

Oh, um, right. Last time we talked you told me you were going to do something that'd take away your memories of certain things? I guess it must've worked? Hold on.

[ And he reaches out to his Omni and switches the conversation to private. ]

But, the first time I saw you, an archangel had control of your body and, um. Killed me. [ He fidgets with his bandana, drawing attention to the jagged ring of scar tissue around his neck. ] You came back later and apologized, though, and told me you were going to take yourself back to before you were possessed with some kind of spell? And that was the last I heard from you until now.

[family_remains]

[Borat voice: wow wow we wow...

Oh Sammy. Sammy, Sammy, Sammy.

Objectively, Sam does know the names of all the people Lucifer killed but it isn't something he's thought about since coming to Trench.

Orpheus's words should stop him cold. The scar should send waves of second-hand guilt and shame coursing through his body, but he doesn't feel it. He doesn't feel anything. At all.

He takes a small pause to consider the information, more concerned with the mistaken identity, and breifly wonders if there is a way he can use that to his advantage.

But what advantage would it give him? Nothing from what he can see, and so Orpheus receives the truth.]

You've got the wrong Sam. You're talking about the one from the bad end timeline.

[themuseabandonsyou]

The what? [ Orpheus blinks, brows furrowing in confusion, before shaking his head. That's not as important as clearing up the misunderstanding here. ]

I'm sorry - I shouldn't have assumed? It's just - you do look just like Sam Winchester. [ he says, under the assumption that he's simply encountered two identical men who share a first name, because the alternative is much weirder and absolutely does not occur to him. ]

[family_remains]

[It's about to get worse.]

I am Sam Winchester.

[themuseabandonsyou]

[ what ]

Oh. You... have the same last name, too?

[family_remains]

Uh, yeah. Because I am Sam Winchester. We're both- It's complicated. He's an alternate universe version of me.

[themuseabandonsyou]

[ w h a t

(That is to say, it takes Orpheus a moment of very careful thought before what Sam is saying actually strikes him.) ]

Oh! That's what you meant, by what you said about timelines earlier. That's - I didn't know that could happen?

[family_remains]

[There you go, back in the room.]

Neither did I but here we are.

For what is worth he won't be bothering you again.

[themuseabandonsyou]

He won't be? Is - is he okay? I know he said there was a chance what he was trying wouldn't work, or it would go wrong somehow, but...

[ Orpheus had really been hoping it would go well for him. The guy had seemed like he could stand to have something go right for him, in the midst of being condemned by the Fates. ]

[family_remains]

Oh it.. sure did go wrong. You can rest easy, so there's that. I guess.

[themuseabandonsyou]

Oh. [ Orpheus looks down, worrying his lip. ] I - I was hoping it would work for him. That he wouldn't get hurt. He didn't deserve any of this.

[family_remains]

Don't worry about it. That's our lot in life.

[themuseabandonsyou]

I'm sorry. At least you don't get possessed by the Archangel? If I'm understanding this right.

[family_remains]

No. I don't. Because I'm not a weak simp.

[themuseabandonsyou]

[ And Orpheus, being from the dustbowl and not understanding half the slang his friends use anyway, proceeds to casually assume "simp" is short for "simpleton" and moves on without comment. ]

Oh. That - seems harsh? There but for the grace of the Fates you go, I mean. Do you really think it was weakness, that drove him to it?

[family_remains]

[That's fair. Probably best to keep it with that reading of the word. Please start using it by all means.]

I know so. It's like watching a walking, talking montage of all the worst fuckups I could ever do or be.

Honestly, hard pass from me.

[themuseabandonsyou]

[ Orpheus frowns a little bit at that, thinking to himself that the other Sam seemed, if nothing else, much kinder. He's not the type to make that observation aloud, but there's a certain sadness to all of this. Does rejecting weakness - avoiding the other Sam's fate - really require that he harden himself like this? ]

I guess. I - does this mean the Archangel is gone too, at least? Or did it backfire that badly?

[family_remains]

So far as I can tell. But this is the devil we're talking about.

[themuseabandonsyou]

[ Orpheus blinks, looking confused. ]

I thought he was an angel? That's what the other Sam told me, at least.

[family_remains]

He was. Lucifer was God's favorite angel until he rebelled and was cast from Heaven. Then he became the kind of Hell.