"Hera's black crap! I want a drink!" he would have shouted, but he was too tired, too forlorn. He winced, and rolled into himself, pained. *That* was one of Nae-nae's loathsome expletives.

There was fighting going on not too far away, but he didn't care at the moment. How long might it be until he saw her again? The Game continued, but he was unable to give a flying flip. He could ask Roger to bring him up to speed, later, if necessary.

Gods he wanted a drink.

And so he found himself outside the Mori. A detached part of Orpheus's mind noted how the place looked much bigger from a mouse's low perspective. He sniffed the air, extended weak senses. No one would notice him going in and chase him off.

He scampered in and up onto the bar. Getting drunk should be much cheaper and easier as a mouse. He could lap up spills on the bar and it wouldn't take much to send this rodent body into an alcoholic stupor.

He darted unobtrusively to a small puddle of spilled brandy on the bar. Good. Strong stuff. Good for wounds.

As he slowly lapped at the liquor, he noted a tall, lean man sitting in a corner, drinking a large mug of beer. The detached part of his mind mused about the stranger. He was handsome and he had a nice sprawl. If Orpheus had been his usual self... But it would have been useless anyway. The good ones were always straight or married.

Slowly, all parts of the Guardian's mind were fuzzed over by the alcohol. "Good stuff..." was the last thought from the detached neurons before he slipped off to slumber and dreams.

It was beautiful.

He was sharing a dream with Anaera, and it was a wonderful vision.

He wasn't even a he. He was Eurydice, just as she had been millenia ago. Unlike then, however, she had more friends. It was a vision of what could have been. Perhaps not what should have been, but very close.

Eurydice laughed as Persephone shared more gossip from Olympus, the mountain of the gods. Sitting next to her, was Anaera, also laughing at their friend's anecdote.

Eurydice and Anaera could have been sisters, because Anaera was like she used to be, too. They both had the green-glinting, vibrant brown hair that marked those with the blood of tree nymphs, and the deep, lively green eyes. If only Orpheus had a brother, then they could be sisters in truth.

Speaking of her husband, there he was. His beautiful face lit up as he spied his beloved. Her face glowed, likewise.

Her two friends noticed the change and followed her gaze.

"Orphy!" Persephone and Anaera chorused.

"Hi Sephie! Hi Nae-nae!" he answered his dear friends. "I've come to reclaim why wife. And don't frown! I let you borrow her all day!"

"But we haven't had your company!" Sephie complained.

"And you haven't sung for us!" Nae-nae added.

"Well, soon remedied," he responded in his melodious voice.

Orpheus sat down by Eurydice, and she promptly laid her head in his lap. Persephone and Anaera, admired the scene for a moment, without jealousy, and then settled down together to listen.

The son of a Muse sang to his loved ones -- a song perfectly suited to the fair Spring day.

And there was not a trace of sadness or darkness tainting the dreamscape.