Conversation with Adeline DeLaney (@sunflowerjm) ~ongoing~
Amidst the haze of alcohol, Orpheus’ thoughts trailed in a labyrinth of confusion and sadness as he stood far too close to Adeline.
In his inebriated state, he clung to the fragments of memories and unresolved emotions of each passing lady he came across this evening. Each sip had been an attempt to drown his sorrows, but instead, it seemed to amplify them, casting shadows upon the fractured landscape of his mind. There was a sadness that loomed like a heavy cloud, one that felt insurmountable in the moment, as if the weight of the world rested upon his shoulders.
[color= #E7D27C]”You have been drinking too much again.” [/color] Adeline’s words came as a gentle tug on his mind, pulling him back into his body and the present moment. She was right, as she normally was. The alcohol had quickly caught up to him, swirling with the precariously dark thoughts Orpheus kept damned up behind his usually noble, sunny disposition.
The room spun, creating a distorted blur, and his words slurred into an incoherent symphony as he spoke.
[color= #BC0057] “Notevenkindofenough…” [/color] He mumbled, his mind still racing with the pain of each lingering conversation and the confusion of his unfinished relations. There was an unease rooted so deep in his chest, its branches tightening around his lungs, causing his breathing to be cut short.
He was on the verge of breaking down.
In that fragile moment, his emotions swirled like a tempest within, threatening to break the dam of composure he had so carefully constructed. Orpheus could feel the burning sting behind his eyes, the telltale sign that tears were waiting, eager to escape.
Yet, he knew he could not surrender to their embrace, not here, not now. The world demanded stoicism, and he had to wear that mask, concealing the turmoil beneath at whatever cost to his own mental well-being. With a silent resolve, Orpheus clenched his fists, willing himself to hold back the flood of tears, to keep the vulnerability locked away.
He did not speak another word as Adeline led him back out into the night once again.
Orpheus knew he had placed his friend in an uncomfortable situation where she would have to choose between her own night and attempting to repair his, yet he felt there was no one left to turn to and he needed to be stopped before he did something he regretted.
Adeline had always provided him a sense of comfort. A deeper level of connection and trust that he had only felt once before. Their bond was forged through a shared brotherly loss, a hollow longing for a new sibling relationship that they both happily filled for each other. In the place of his own kin, she stood with open arms, always.
As the walls of the ballroom caved in around him, he could think of nowhere else to rest except her embrace, even if she were to chastise him for his drunken habits.
Orpheus had arrived to Adeline’s drunken and disorderly on more than one occasion. In fact, after the loss of Aurelia and the death of his brother, his visits became frequent. A slurred mess of a man he once was, stumbling into her garden night after lonely night, soaking wet, always wet, and desperate for the closeness others had taken with them as they left him alone again.
He somehow always found himself alone.
Yet, as Adeline took his hand and led him onto the balcony of the ballroom, he felt the necessity of clinging onto his composure lessen, his damned up anxieties and frustrations beginning to spill over.
Orpheus attempted to take in the night air, his chest shaking and straining to oblige as the panic rose.
Just as he was about to unfurl the woes of the night unto Adeline, a pair of familiar voices caught his ear. A tuned ear. A trained ear. One that could pick out a name through whispers in the wind, and his heart dropped to his stomach as his mind connected the noise to faces.
Aurelia
He could recognize her at the slightest of sounds or swiftest of glimpses. He knew her better than he knew himself.
She was out here again. Only this time, with a man.
Ilyas Keats
His voice rang like a warning siren sending a sharp pain through Orpheus’ mind. A pain that lingered, one he pushed down time and time again, yet it crawled its way from the depths of his heart back to the surface once more.
He could not believe the vision his eyes laid before him as he glanced toward the two standing, far too close for Orpheus’ liking, at the railing of the balcony.
[color= #BC0057] “Lia…Whatare you-“ [/color] Orpheus spoke so softly it was as if he was whispering to himself. His words spilled together in a drunken attempt to focus on what he was seeing.
As the waves of sadness crashed against the shores of his heart, a transformation began to take place. The initial helplessness and sorrow, like a heavy fog, gave way to a simmering anger that smoldered deep within. It was as though the sadness had kindled a fire of frustration, fueled by a sense of injustice and betrayal.
The tears that had threatened earlier now morphed into a scalding rage, each emotion igniting the other like a chain reaction. The panicked grasp of emotion in his chest lifted into a twisted anger as the profound sense of disorientation gave birth to a sobering, fiery determination to confront the source of his pain.
The person who had always been the source of his pain.
In that turbulent transition, sadness and anger danced together, a dance of emotions that demanded acknowledgment and resolution.
It was if a switch had flipped.
Without another thought, Orpheus felt his feet carry him over toward Aurelia, placing his body between her and Ilyas. A familiar stance, one that pained his heart with nostalgia.
It was a place he had stood many times before. Facing Ilyas, shielding Aurelia, ready for a fight.
[color= #BC0057] “What the hell do you think you’re doing, Keats?!” [/color] Orpheus spat, pushing Ilyas back slightly with an open palm, his drunken slurs seemingly giving way to sobering rage.
With each passing moment, the embers of resentment burned brighter, fueled by the frustration of feeling powerless in the face of the uncontrollable circumstances the night continued to present him.
There was a strange and confusing mix of sadness, longing, love, hate, fear, and desire that hung his thoughts in a twisted knot. He fought the urge to grab Aurelia and pull her close, ushering her away from the man who stood before them now. A man he resented more than anyone.
A man he had grown to hate.
mentioned :
Adeline (@sunflowerjm)
Aurelia (@benitz786)
Ilyas (@Madilfill)