Parting of Echoes

V

Footsteps were heard approaching the room, the man still asleep, without a regard for his responsibilities. The night to him had been somewhat long, several minutes spent crying into his pillow over the loss of his friend, loss of family as he didn't have them here, in this world - he was alone, in an unfamiliar place. This had finally sunk into his mind, and now he merely lay asleep, exhausted from his misery and odd luck. Events of yesterday were merely those that brought him utter sorrow and anguish, no recollection of meeting anyone really.

Hands soon grabbed his arm, causing his gloom-filled sleep to be shattered, as he quickly sat up, grabbing whatever had unnerved him first thing in the morning, only to be met with terrified blue eyes, the smile slowly fading away as the child tried to get away, now fearful of the tall man, whose grip was causing him pain. "You startled me,"the man apologized, letting go of him as he placed his hands on the bed, looking down at him with his own small frown. "Don't wake me like that again, okay?"he added, the small boy nodding quickly, a few tears escaping his eyes.

With a small sigh, the man reached out slowly, giving him time to flee once more. When there was no fight or flight response from the boy, though he merely patted his head gently, "I'm sorry Hephaestus." apologies never came easy to the man, and saying it made him feel uncomfortable, but it seemed to be the best option as of now. Warily, little Hephaestus nodded once more, sniffling as he reached his hand out to the man, the other arm holding his stuffy close to his chest. "You're scary,"the boy said shakily, "But I know you wouldn't hurt us, right?"His tone had the innocence and hopefulness of a child who still knew nothing about the horrors of the world.

Orlando was many things, but harming children, no matter how upset he got, was never something he'd be capable of. "I wouldn't hurt y'all."he reassured, relaxing as he allowed the boy to hold his hand. A mere few hours had passed and this child seemingly already trusted him. This would be important to keep in mind, as he needn't have the little one interacting with strangers who were much worse people than the man ever was. Allowing himself to be led into the kitchen, he began to think about his dream, or the few things he could recall from it.

Reckless driving presumably late at night—his name was Orlando Contrera. The thought cut through his memory of driving, as he finally pieced what his actual name was, rather than the silly cover up name he was using. "Ichor" was what he was publicly, but he knew his name now.

"Hey mister,"Hepheastus said, looking up at him, having wiped his own tears away while Orlando had been seemingly zoning out.

"Huh?"The man replied, looking down at him again, wondering what he'd need now.

"What's for breakfast?"the small child asked, and in that moment, he felt his shoulders slump. He'd become, basically, a parent in the span of a few hours, in charge of three boys— a sweet child, a goblin of a creature, and some suspicious guardian-like child who was not much older than the other two. Big blue eyes continued to look at him with curiosity, and Orlando could feel the burning gaze of the other two boys.

"I'll check what we have and I'll go from there."Orlando said truthfully, letting go of the little one's hand, going to check the pantry, fridge, and cabinets. Based on his findings, he'd need to go out grocery shopping. The idea of leaving these three here alone was unsettling, but he also hated children at the supermarket whenever he'd go to one.

"I'll make you what my grandpa made me,"he said, grabbing the ingredients needed,"You three sit there and uh,"he paused, trying to think of a task other than games. A few moments passed and he started to peel the potatoes,"Draw a picture. Best one will get to pick something from our field trip later today."he finally said, hearing Hephaestus giggle and run off, the other two telling him to 'wait up'.