Orpheus & Eurydice
indriya
The past week Cassiopeia saw a lot of Jonny. Sometimes he would drop in and she could tell that he was stressed, so she just let him vent or sleep, basically anything to keep him from bursting and stayed out of his way if he needed.
Currently they were sitting together on her living room floor on her meditation pillows. After the first time he was here, he decided that they weren’t enough and went out and bought like 20 of the exact same kind. Cassiopeia didn’t know how he found them but figured he wanted extra cause he has such a big butt.
Jonny is talking about some hockey plays or whatever, Cassiopeia doesn’t really know or understand. She just lets him talk and usually he calms down enough to go home.
It’s random when she takes one of his hands while he’s flailing it about and examines it. He immediately breaks off what he’s saying to stare at her. She gives him a grin before focusing back on his hand.
“I’m gonna read your palm.” She states.
“I – ok? You know how to do that?”
“Yup. Some day I’ll read your cards but I’m not in the mood for that.” She shrugs. She studies his hands and making humming noises that make Jonny shift uncomfortably every so often.
“Are my hands ok? They’re normal right? What are you reading?” He shoots rapid fire questions at her and she smiles at him.
“They’re not normal.”
“Care to explain, Cass?” She looks up at him and he looks worried.
“Okay, so there are four main lines that you look for. This one here,” she traces the heart line that runs under his fingers and watches how they twitch with the soft touch. “This is your heart line. It’s pretty strong and starts in between your first finger and your middle finger, which means you fall in love easily.”
Jonny makes a noise at this and she looks up to see him ducking his head, a blush spreading on his cheeks.
“Your head line is just below is and is pretty short, but very straight which indicates practicality and structure. I can believe that.
“Your fate line runs vertical to the others and is pretty faint which means your life might change many times.”
“But?”
Cassiopeia blinks and looks up at him, lost in the concentration she had while looking at Jonny’s palm.
“Pardon?”
“I felt like there’s a but behind that statement.”
Cassiopeia bites her lip and looks back down at his hand. He isn’t wrong.
“But, you don’t have a life line. I’ve never met someone who doesn’t have a life line.
“Is that bad?”
“It just is what it is, I guess. Reading palms isn’t an exact science but your life line would show your character and important events that happen in your life. For instance, mine has a break in it.”
Cassiopeia continues to worry at her lip and looks down at her own palm.
“What does that mean?” This time Jonny take her hand and pulls it over so he can look at the different lines on her hand.
“A major change in lifestyle.”
It’s silent for a few minutes while Jonny examines Cassiopeia’s hand. She lets her mind wander to especially not so good parts of her past but is jerked out of her thoughts when Jonny asks her a question.
“What’s this?”
She looks over and sees he’s asking about the tattoo on her ring finger on her right hand. She hadn’t even realized that he flipped her hand over.
“A lotus.”
“I like it.” He traces the flower outline and a smile grows on Cassiopeia’s face.
“Do you have any tattoos?” Jonny looks surprised for a few seconds and shakes his head.
“God no, I’m afraid of needles.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. You wouldn’t think so with all the stiches that hockey involved but I kinda just close my eyes and try not to throw up.” He nervously laughs and Cassiopeia takes one of his hands in hers and laces them together. His face sobers up and looks at her with question in his eyes.
“Do you feel better?”
Jonny exhales and tightens his grip on Cassiopeia’s hand before releasing it and standing up.
“Yeah, thanks again. I have a game tonight, wanna come?”
“Not really.” Jonny scrunches his face up at her answer and she laughs, joining him in standing up. She walks him to the door and notices her cat’s food bowl is empty and makes a mental note to fill it up later.
“Well, good luck, Jonny. I hope you score a goal.”
“I’ll try. I’ll call you.”
ॐ
Jonny comes back to Cassiopeia’s apartment after his game. He doesn’t talk and she lets him be, busying herself making quinoa and tea. He disappeared into her room 15 minutes ago and when she finally has everything ready, she follows him with two mugs and a large bowl with two forks they can share.
“So I take it you didn’t score a goal?” She starts out with but immediately wishes she didn’t say that because he cringes from where he’s laying on he bed.
She sets the food down on the table next to her bed and nudges him to give him his tea.
“I don’t want to talk about it, Cass. I actually don’t even want to think about anything.”
Cassiopeia frowns, but understands. Sometimes when life is going against you, the best thing is to just stop fighting it and lie down.
“Okay, we can do that. Do you want me to get my pipe?”
His eyes fly open and she’s a little startled to see that he almost looks manic.
“No! Jesus, no. I’m in season, if I get tested and fail, I won’t be able to play hockey.” She nods at his explanation and focuses on picking at the fray steams in her comforter.
“Well, let’s drink our tea and eat our quinoa, and we’ll figure it out, ok?” He nods and they continue to sip in silence.
Once they’re done, she moves the bowl so it’s sitting in between their crossed legs and hands Jonny a fork. They eat in silence and Cassiopeia notices that Jonny is wolfing down the grains like it’s his first meal he’s had all day.
She eats less, leaving more for him because he obviously needs it even though she’s starving. When the bowl is empty, she grabs it and the empty mugs and takes them out to her sink for washing later.
She goes back in her room and see Jonny the same as before, lying in her bed, staring helplessly at her ceiling.
She sighs and starts setting it up for nighttime. She plugs in the little lights she has stranded around her ceiling and windowsill and lights some incense. Once she deems the room suitable, she shuts off the real lights and the room instantly becomes calmer.
She hears Jonny suck in a breath and she goes to join him on her bed. He shifts over a bit so she can fit beside him. Now they’re both staring up at her ceiling and Cassiopeia can’t help but feel at a loss of what to do to make Jonny feel better.
“Be easy,”
“What?” Jonny replies with a whisper.
“Be easy, don’t sweat the small stuff.”
Jonny doesn’t reply but finds Cassiopeia’s hand in the dark and entangles his long fingers with her small ones. His grip is tight and she lets him anchor himself to her if it helps.
“Would you like to say a mantra with me?”
“Sure, only for a little bit.”
“Okay, just repeat what I say and with every rep let out another worry and anxiety you might have building up inside of you.”
“Om Shanti Shanti Shanti,” she starts off with, going slowly and dragging out the shanti's.
She keeps repeating the mantra and Jonny joins in. After a few repetitions his grip on her hand starts becoming less and less intense until his grip is lax. She stops after a while and opens her eyes to look over at Jonny.
His face is all slack and his eyes are closed and it’s the most relaxed Cassiopeia has ever seen him. She gives his hand a squeeze and he opens his eyes and matches her gaze.
“Thanks,” his voice is gravely and she smiles at him and looks toward the ceiling again.
“Let’s just not think for the rest of the night.” He huffs out a laugh and squeezes her hand once more.
“We’ll find new patterns in the cities lights.”
Currently they were sitting together on her living room floor on her meditation pillows. After the first time he was here, he decided that they weren’t enough and went out and bought like 20 of the exact same kind. Cassiopeia didn’t know how he found them but figured he wanted extra cause he has such a big butt.
Jonny is talking about some hockey plays or whatever, Cassiopeia doesn’t really know or understand. She just lets him talk and usually he calms down enough to go home.
It’s random when she takes one of his hands while he’s flailing it about and examines it. He immediately breaks off what he’s saying to stare at her. She gives him a grin before focusing back on his hand.
“I’m gonna read your palm.” She states.
“I – ok? You know how to do that?”
“Yup. Some day I’ll read your cards but I’m not in the mood for that.” She shrugs. She studies his hands and making humming noises that make Jonny shift uncomfortably every so often.
“Are my hands ok? They’re normal right? What are you reading?” He shoots rapid fire questions at her and she smiles at him.
“They’re not normal.”
“Care to explain, Cass?” She looks up at him and he looks worried.
“Okay, so there are four main lines that you look for. This one here,” she traces the heart line that runs under his fingers and watches how they twitch with the soft touch. “This is your heart line. It’s pretty strong and starts in between your first finger and your middle finger, which means you fall in love easily.”
Jonny makes a noise at this and she looks up to see him ducking his head, a blush spreading on his cheeks.
“Your head line is just below is and is pretty short, but very straight which indicates practicality and structure. I can believe that.
“Your fate line runs vertical to the others and is pretty faint which means your life might change many times.”
“But?”
Cassiopeia blinks and looks up at him, lost in the concentration she had while looking at Jonny’s palm.
“Pardon?”
“I felt like there’s a but behind that statement.”
Cassiopeia bites her lip and looks back down at his hand. He isn’t wrong.
“But, you don’t have a life line. I’ve never met someone who doesn’t have a life line.
“Is that bad?”
“It just is what it is, I guess. Reading palms isn’t an exact science but your life line would show your character and important events that happen in your life. For instance, mine has a break in it.”
Cassiopeia continues to worry at her lip and looks down at her own palm.
“What does that mean?” This time Jonny take her hand and pulls it over so he can look at the different lines on her hand.
“A major change in lifestyle.”
It’s silent for a few minutes while Jonny examines Cassiopeia’s hand. She lets her mind wander to especially not so good parts of her past but is jerked out of her thoughts when Jonny asks her a question.
“What’s this?”
She looks over and sees he’s asking about the tattoo on her ring finger on her right hand. She hadn’t even realized that he flipped her hand over.
“A lotus.”
“I like it.” He traces the flower outline and a smile grows on Cassiopeia’s face.
“Do you have any tattoos?” Jonny looks surprised for a few seconds and shakes his head.
“God no, I’m afraid of needles.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. You wouldn’t think so with all the stiches that hockey involved but I kinda just close my eyes and try not to throw up.” He nervously laughs and Cassiopeia takes one of his hands in hers and laces them together. His face sobers up and looks at her with question in his eyes.
“Do you feel better?”
Jonny exhales and tightens his grip on Cassiopeia’s hand before releasing it and standing up.
“Yeah, thanks again. I have a game tonight, wanna come?”
“Not really.” Jonny scrunches his face up at her answer and she laughs, joining him in standing up. She walks him to the door and notices her cat’s food bowl is empty and makes a mental note to fill it up later.
“Well, good luck, Jonny. I hope you score a goal.”
“I’ll try. I’ll call you.”
ॐ
Jonny comes back to Cassiopeia’s apartment after his game. He doesn’t talk and she lets him be, busying herself making quinoa and tea. He disappeared into her room 15 minutes ago and when she finally has everything ready, she follows him with two mugs and a large bowl with two forks they can share.
“So I take it you didn’t score a goal?” She starts out with but immediately wishes she didn’t say that because he cringes from where he’s laying on he bed.
She sets the food down on the table next to her bed and nudges him to give him his tea.
“I don’t want to talk about it, Cass. I actually don’t even want to think about anything.”
Cassiopeia frowns, but understands. Sometimes when life is going against you, the best thing is to just stop fighting it and lie down.
“Okay, we can do that. Do you want me to get my pipe?”
His eyes fly open and she’s a little startled to see that he almost looks manic.
“No! Jesus, no. I’m in season, if I get tested and fail, I won’t be able to play hockey.” She nods at his explanation and focuses on picking at the fray steams in her comforter.
“Well, let’s drink our tea and eat our quinoa, and we’ll figure it out, ok?” He nods and they continue to sip in silence.
Once they’re done, she moves the bowl so it’s sitting in between their crossed legs and hands Jonny a fork. They eat in silence and Cassiopeia notices that Jonny is wolfing down the grains like it’s his first meal he’s had all day.
She eats less, leaving more for him because he obviously needs it even though she’s starving. When the bowl is empty, she grabs it and the empty mugs and takes them out to her sink for washing later.
She goes back in her room and see Jonny the same as before, lying in her bed, staring helplessly at her ceiling.
She sighs and starts setting it up for nighttime. She plugs in the little lights she has stranded around her ceiling and windowsill and lights some incense. Once she deems the room suitable, she shuts off the real lights and the room instantly becomes calmer.
She hears Jonny suck in a breath and she goes to join him on her bed. He shifts over a bit so she can fit beside him. Now they’re both staring up at her ceiling and Cassiopeia can’t help but feel at a loss of what to do to make Jonny feel better.
“Be easy,”
“What?” Jonny replies with a whisper.
“Be easy, don’t sweat the small stuff.”
Jonny doesn’t reply but finds Cassiopeia’s hand in the dark and entangles his long fingers with her small ones. His grip is tight and she lets him anchor himself to her if it helps.
“Would you like to say a mantra with me?”
“Sure, only for a little bit.”
“Okay, just repeat what I say and with every rep let out another worry and anxiety you might have building up inside of you.”
“Om Shanti Shanti Shanti,” she starts off with, going slowly and dragging out the shanti's.
She keeps repeating the mantra and Jonny joins in. After a few repetitions his grip on her hand starts becoming less and less intense until his grip is lax. She stops after a while and opens her eyes to look over at Jonny.
His face is all slack and his eyes are closed and it’s the most relaxed Cassiopeia has ever seen him. She gives his hand a squeeze and he opens his eyes and matches her gaze.
“Thanks,” his voice is gravely and she smiles at him and looks toward the ceiling again.
“Let’s just not think for the rest of the night.” He huffs out a laugh and squeezes her hand once more.
“We’ll find new patterns in the cities lights.”