Orion pouted. It was a good pout. He had the lips for it, full, situated low on a long jaw. Heavy eyelids, sharp brow described over the line of his glasses. Curled into a pout, arched into a wounded glance Orion could put people in the mind of the world's pluckiest, orphan gazelle trapped on a cliff side after a harrowing chase. It was a pout that could melt the most arctic of blood, break a bedrock heart. It was a pout that would give a mongol horde pause. Nobody was paying any attention.
He had deployed the weapons-grade expression in response to Kanoa's brazen and unprovoked blitzkrieg on his artistic sovereignty. The audacity, the sheer, unmitigated gall to take an instrument from a musician's hands. Fortunately for her, she had prepared the perfect defense; complete dismissal and deflection. She handed the guitar to August. Orion's brow shifted, his jaw tightened. Well played, Marigold.
Orion watched sidelong. Sweat and synesthesia. Silence. He kept his gaze from his position on the floor. He watched August cross to the stair. He smirked at her frank observation of their present realities. A brave hero was needed to brave the unknown reached of a higher plane. Orion made a big show of unfolding his train rail limbs, groaning with the herculean effort of motion. Falling back off of the pillow he felt the cool earth along his spine as he rolled onto his shoulders hoisting his weight above him, legs coiling tight as his hands planted on either side of his head, pushing off the ground he reversed the arch of his spine, twisting his body forwards, for a brief moment, all of him was suspended in space, unable to see the ground, unsure of how he would land. Then it was over. Feet touched earth, his body collapsing into a crouch, long arms extended before him to counterbalance the force that still wanted to land him flat on his back. No one ever appreciated how hard it was for someone of Orion's side to jump to his feet from the ground like that. No one appreciated it now. A hero was already found.
Danny rose up the stair into the heavens, a twitchy vanguard of their ascension. Orion stood, humming thoughtfully to himself. He stretched tall, yawning for effect, elbows hitting the ceiling. Sniffing Orion sauntered to the stair, staring up with August after Danny. He glanced back at August, staring at her over his spectacles.
"Steady on there Batty. You here with me?" He could still taste the psychical residue of...whatever it was that August did with the guitar. Tasted like lime and tin. He furrowed his brow into a concerned and thoughtful frown. It was a good frown.
August's sharp eyes flitted briefly to Orion, lips pursed. Her glitch had not gone unnoticed, unfortunately. She could hear Danny above them, talking, moving about. The red head looked back up the stairs.
"I'm good, just caught me off guard. Thank you, though, for asking, not many people do...It's just if I'm not prepared for that kind of stuff, it can be a bit overwhelming. Shocked me a bit."
She ran a hand through her absurdly long hair, flipping the braid over one shoulder and adjusting her circular glasses. She quirked her mouth again.
"You'd think I'd be used to it by now...bothersome that it still catches me sometimes."
Eyebrows furrowed as she cracked a knuckle, mind racing at a breakneck pace about twenty different things. Surface thoughts, she prodded Orion on the cheek.
"What about you Oreo? So far you've been fairly docile about this whole thing. All things considered, that's unusual. I know your whole thing is being calm, and acting like the cucumber in the iceberg, but even you have to have an opinion on all this."
The tiny girl started heading up the stairs as Danny called out about the missing boy possibly being similar to them. She walked backwards up the steps, emerald eyes focused on Orion. It was clear she was reading him, studying him. A technician looking at the machine and trying to figure it out.
"What do you think about all this?"
A groan in Orion's gut mixed with a growl in his gullet. He ducked under a large branch serving as a crossbeam his natural afro snapping back into shape after it squished under the limb. He feet dragged with painful slowness with each step as he followed her up the stare, hunched, hands thrust into his hoodie's pockets. He paused mid-step, as if trying to read his thoughts from the shadow of the next step. From the way the darkness coiled and writhed, he just might be. He settled his foot down with definition. He looked at August. Even halfway further up the step they were still glasses to glasses.
"A bit overwhelming," his sniffed dryly, "yeah, I think your singing my song, shorty." Orion turned on his heel and leaned against the woody wall of the stair, folding his arms over his narrow chest. He slowly turned his head towards the bottom of the staircase, considering.
"I see an awful lot of fragile people standing around in what I'm finding seems to be an increasingly fragile reality. I think..." he pressed his tongue against the back of his teeth. "Something is going to give. Maybe I'm just rubberneckin', waiting to see what snaps first."
He shrugged and smiled wryly, it was a good smile, all lopsided angles and edges. It almost looked sincere.
He had deployed the weapons-grade expression in response to Kanoa's brazen and unprovoked blitzkrieg on his artistic sovereignty. The audacity, the sheer, unmitigated gall to take an instrument from a musician's hands. Fortunately for her, she had prepared the perfect defense; complete dismissal and deflection. She handed the guitar to August. Orion's brow shifted, his jaw tightened. Well played, Marigold.
Orion watched sidelong. Sweat and synesthesia. Silence. He kept his gaze from his position on the floor. He watched August cross to the stair. He smirked at her frank observation of their present realities. A brave hero was needed to brave the unknown reached of a higher plane. Orion made a big show of unfolding his train rail limbs, groaning with the herculean effort of motion. Falling back off of the pillow he felt the cool earth along his spine as he rolled onto his shoulders hoisting his weight above him, legs coiling tight as his hands planted on either side of his head, pushing off the ground he reversed the arch of his spine, twisting his body forwards, for a brief moment, all of him was suspended in space, unable to see the ground, unsure of how he would land. Then it was over. Feet touched earth, his body collapsing into a crouch, long arms extended before him to counterbalance the force that still wanted to land him flat on his back. No one ever appreciated how hard it was for someone of Orion's side to jump to his feet from the ground like that. No one appreciated it now. A hero was already found.
Danny rose up the stair into the heavens, a twitchy vanguard of their ascension. Orion stood, humming thoughtfully to himself. He stretched tall, yawning for effect, elbows hitting the ceiling. Sniffing Orion sauntered to the stair, staring up with August after Danny. He glanced back at August, staring at her over his spectacles.
"Steady on there Batty. You here with me?" He could still taste the psychical residue of...whatever it was that August did with the guitar. Tasted like lime and tin. He furrowed his brow into a concerned and thoughtful frown. It was a good frown.
August's sharp eyes flitted briefly to Orion, lips pursed. Her glitch had not gone unnoticed, unfortunately. She could hear Danny above them, talking, moving about. The red head looked back up the stairs.
"I'm good, just caught me off guard. Thank you, though, for asking, not many people do...It's just if I'm not prepared for that kind of stuff, it can be a bit overwhelming. Shocked me a bit."
She ran a hand through her absurdly long hair, flipping the braid over one shoulder and adjusting her circular glasses. She quirked her mouth again.
"You'd think I'd be used to it by now...bothersome that it still catches me sometimes."
Eyebrows furrowed as she cracked a knuckle, mind racing at a breakneck pace about twenty different things. Surface thoughts, she prodded Orion on the cheek.
"What about you Oreo? So far you've been fairly docile about this whole thing. All things considered, that's unusual. I know your whole thing is being calm, and acting like the cucumber in the iceberg, but even you have to have an opinion on all this."
The tiny girl started heading up the stairs as Danny called out about the missing boy possibly being similar to them. She walked backwards up the steps, emerald eyes focused on Orion. It was clear she was reading him, studying him. A technician looking at the machine and trying to figure it out.
"What do you think about all this?"
A groan in Orion's gut mixed with a growl in his gullet. He ducked under a large branch serving as a crossbeam his natural afro snapping back into shape after it squished under the limb. He feet dragged with painful slowness with each step as he followed her up the stare, hunched, hands thrust into his hoodie's pockets. He paused mid-step, as if trying to read his thoughts from the shadow of the next step. From the way the darkness coiled and writhed, he just might be. He settled his foot down with definition. He looked at August. Even halfway further up the step they were still glasses to glasses.
"A bit overwhelming," his sniffed dryly, "yeah, I think your singing my song, shorty." Orion turned on his heel and leaned against the woody wall of the stair, folding his arms over his narrow chest. He slowly turned his head towards the bottom of the staircase, considering.
"I see an awful lot of fragile people standing around in what I'm finding seems to be an increasingly fragile reality. I think..." he pressed his tongue against the back of his teeth. "Something is going to give. Maybe I'm just rubberneckin', waiting to see what snaps first."
He shrugged and smiled wryly, it was a good smile, all lopsided angles and edges. It almost looked sincere.
