The Empty World | The Empty World Sequence [complete | rewriting]

Twenty-Three

Morpheus had expected he would have to speak to his mother, and had hoped to reunite with Sin and Laudy first, or maybe Ganymede, but it was Athen who found him, before he'd even had time to finish a meal. He had to have rushed from Julien, barely taking time to pull on a tight t-shirt. Morpheus didn't understand.

He was sitting at the kitchen table with an array of leftovers on the table, when Athen entered from the side door to the dining room. Morpheus considered teleporting away from him, just out of anticipated awkwardness, but he had River, his small collection of flowers, three bottled Djinn, and a few mirrors lain out on the table along with his food.

He had a fleeting hope that Athen would retrieve blood from the nearby pantry and leave, but that was quickly dashed when Athen sat down at the table. At least, Morpheus thought, he left an empty seat between them.

"I know it was you."

He probably meant he'd figured out it was Morpheus after the fact. Morpheus shrugged as he picked at a bits of cucumber and Feta with his fork.

"The matching shirts would have been a clue, but my mother never spoke Greek that well, and had she really appeared, Julien would have been just as shocked; he's only seen her in my paintings."

"He's pretty accepting of the existence of the supernatural...."Morpheus hedged, realizing that Athen was suggesting that Morpheus had seen his mother. And considering that Ariella had spoken most of her words in English, Morpheus figured Athen was still fishing for confirmation. "He always was."

"I didn't come here to talk about him. Unless you want to?"

"What's there to talk about?"

"Tell me first: did you see her?"

Morpheus raised his eyes to look at Athen. He didn't speak, but a slight lilting of brows with the intensity of his gaze asked: What do you think?

"You can't tell me?"

"Israfel speaks to all your mutual acquaintances about his continued wish for you to pursue singing."

Athen nodded, seemingly content with the answer. "I never actually said he couldn't be with you. Friends, or whatever."

"I don't feel like it's right to even discuss it." Morpheus wanted to. He wanted to argue. He wanted to say that even if Athen didn't say the specific words, he should know Julien could perceive meaning in his behavior or emotions. Morpheus wanted to to say Julien didn't need permission. And contrary to that, he also wanted to say permission didn't matter when vows had been made. He wanted to say he was no homewrecker, and at the same time, Morpheus was strongly tempted to tell Athen what Eros and Tristopher had done. He didn't say any of those things. "Is he...?"

"Sleeping. In his room. I saw him that far." Athen reached to a back pocket. "He wanted you to have this." It was the audiocassette Morpheus had left in Julien's room.

Morpheus took the mixtape and set it down near River's small saucer of salad. "I think he was up all day looking after you."

"I'm hardly blind to what I have in him." Athen sighed, and as genuinely affected as he seemed, his expression quickly shifted to furrowed frustration. "He started acting different when you didn't come right back. But, we didn't want to talk about him. You and me: we had...creative differences in the past. There's nothing else, so far as I'm concerned."

"You're here to talk about music? The tour?"

"You already talked to Opium?" Athen asked.

"No. Just inferred."

"The tour's already planned, and Opium's been saying she speaks for you."

"It's all right. I didn't give her much of a choice." If Morpheus had differences with his mother, they were private, at least he didn't aim to make them public.