The Pages of Orion

The worryingly dark clouds hadn’t started to storm when Arum arrived at his aunt’s building. The air smelled like rain and lightning, but he couldn’t say that he minded. He’d spent so many long nights just listening to the rain on his window. It was the one thing that could get him to sleep when all else failed.

A crack of thunder made him frantically scuttle under the awning of a nearby shop. Dammit, is it going to start pouring? He thought miserably. Just my luck.

“Arum! Stop moping under there and come inside.” Lena leaned on the door frame of the front door with a teasing smile.

“I’m not moping! I’m- uh- brooding. That’s what I’m doing, and all the cool people do it too.” He felt himself smile, his aunt always knew how to make him smile.

“I suppose you’re the exception to that?” Arum gasped in mock offense, while Selena continued, “Now, come inside before you get soaked.” He did, barely making it through the doorway before the sky opened up and dumped an ocean’s worth of water down.

“Guess Zeus was waiting for me to get inside.” He laughed a little, when Lena just rolled her eyes.

“I bet you’re his favorite too.” She remarked, voice dripping with sarcasm.

“You’re so mean to me.”

“If I was mean, I wouldn’t have made moussaka, with only potatoes, for dinner.”

“You remembered!” He gasped, just happy she had remembered his absolute hatred for aubergines.

“Of course I did. You’re my favorite nephew.”

“Aww… wait a second.” He narrowed his eyes, “I’m your only nephew.”

“Exactly, that’s why you’re my favorite.” Lena said with a sly grin, which turned to laughter at Arum’s lamenting.

“Now,” she said, once Arum was finished despairing about his life, “stairs or elevator?”

“Hmm, a deathtrap or fire hazard, what amazing choices.” His leg gave a throb of pain, making the decision easy. He walked towards the elevator, “plummeting to my death sounds festive.”

“You’ll be fine, you drama king.”

“You are so mean to me!!”

“You’ll live.”

“Unless the elevator thinks differently.”

The dull light flickered when they went into it, casting everything in a sickly yellow, and the button for the floor didn’t work the first few tries. Selena punched it and the elevator finally lurched to life.

“So,” Selena started once the elevator doors had closed with a worrying screech, “I never got to meet that girlfriend of yours.”

“He dumped me.” He watched as her face go through just about every emotion in the span of three seconds.

“Oh, oh… oh” The rest of the agonizingly slow ride was awkwardly silent.

After Lena had stopped them from getting soaked in the storm, Ori and Vera played cards on the floor in the middle of the apartment. It was a cozy place, if a little small. There were lots of blankets and pillows for blanket forts and sleepovers. The walls were covered in art work made by Lena's friends and pictures of Ori growing up alongside Vera and Arum.

The air always held the scents of what was cooking (currently: moussaka) and the sounds of the neighbors drifted through the thin walls. Luckily, their next door neighbors were quiet most of the time, and one was a musician. He didn’t take requests, much to everyone’s (mostly Ori’s) disappointment. He could, however, be bribed with cookies to play a song or two.

While Lena was getting Arum, the two kids had devolved into arguing over the card game they made up for a school assignment. Was it technically supposed to be on one of the historical figures they had been learning about? Yes, but the two managed to argue that technically the assignment did not say when the figures had to be from… or if they existed.

So, they got to do their project on the myths Selena and Iris, Vera’s mother, would tell them. Arum calls it, “would you two shut up already. It’s a game you both made up.” or “would you stop playing your argument game?” Both of those are too long of a name, but neither of them can come up with a different one, so Arguments: The Game was born.

The door opened to grace the pair of adults to the children’s bickering as always.

“Heracles could probably beat Polyphemus! He got the underworld doggie out of the underworld!” Vera declared, placing down the hand drawn card.

“Polyphemus is smart, and I don’t think the dog is all that smart.” Ori countered, already getting out their book on myths.

“UM. EXCUSE YOU?! Dogs are so smart! The two dogs I dog sit are so nice and polite and well-trained. Heracles could easily win.” Ori scoffed at that.

“We never saw him fight a humanoid monster! And Polyphemus is the son of Poseidon!”

“Well, Heracles is the son of Zeus!”

“Well-” Arum cut off Ori’s retort with one of his own.

“Vey, Riri, how about we stop yelling at each other and have dinner? Plus, I brought more stickers for you to add to my crutch.” The kids abandoned their game immediately in favor of setting the table. 

Arum sat by the small shrine with a wince as his knee shrieked in pain, barely lessened by his tail working with his more functional leg to lower him to the ground. As usual, there was a bubble of warmth that eased the pain as Arum whispered his prayers. Conversation drifted past as he got lost in the quiet words he uttered. He didn’t know what they meant, but they fit nicely in his mouth. 

Ori watched him quietly for a while before hesitantly standing and kneeling beside him. They lightly leaned on Arum’s shoulder. Arum wrapped his arm around the younger kid as they sat in a comfortable silence, only broken by Arum’s murmurs and Ori humming along to the rhythm. 

Selena watched the two of them until Vey's head popped out from behind her chair. "Mama and Papa are making loukoumades for the festival thingy tomorrow! Want me to bring you some?"

"Ooo yes please, your parents make the best in the city!"

"I'll tell them you said that!"

"Ew no, don't let Iris know I like something she makes. Can't let her know I like something she makes."

"Just Papa then?" Selena pondered that before nodding with a smile.

"Acceptable, want to help me finish up dinner?" Vera, instead of responding, just ran over immediately.

"No." She finally replied while already getting out the ingredients for a fairly simple salad.