Orpheus, by Sol Crafter [mm, Mature Content]

Title: Orpheus
Series: Narcissus
Author: Sol Crafter

Genre: mm, science fiction

Rating: Mature
Warning: m/m, past mention of m/f

 ORPHEUS
by Sol Crafter

Her name must have been a curse. Her parents had chosen an ill-fated name, so it was destined, what happened to her. Though he would always blame himself for her terrible fate.


Euridice. Sweet, beautiful Euridice, the only woman he would ever love.

Raphe met her for the first time in a college coffee shop. A beautiful laughing girl with a head full of long golden curls. She'd gleamed in the sunlight, and he always felt that he was all her green eyes saw.

They dated for several years, then were wed on a perfect spring day. He could smell the flowers she'd woven in her hair and her laughter had rung like bells.

They'd been so in love. They'd danced for hours, until all they had was moonlight to see by. They drank champagne and made love by the fire. And it seemed like everything was going to be happy ever after...

Until Raphe came home one day to flashing lights and a door that had been broken in. His heart had gone right in his throat and he'd screamed for her, begged for it all to be a lie until medics sedated him.

He woke in the hospital, his arms strapped down. He was on suicide watch and drugs dripped into his veins to keep the hysterical madness away.

Euridice was dead.

Three men had broken into their home and brutally raped her before stabbing her twenty-seven times and leaving her to die. She'd written his name in her own blood and "GOODBYE."

Her mother had found her. She'd been coming to wait with Euridice so they could surprise him with the news that he was to be a father.

Now he was a widower.


A year later, Raphe thought his life was coming back together. Grief was still a heavy weight upon him, but he was able to get through his days without falling apart.

Then he heard a familiar laugh as he was leaving the grocery store. His head whipped around and his frantic eyes searched out and found familiar green eyes.

"Euridice?" his voice broke.

There was a disbelieving laugh. "What? Do I look like a Euridice to you?"

Raphe shook his head, his cheeks blushing with embarrassment. "I'm sorry. I don't know what..." He covered his mouth with his hand and turned away.

"Hey now. You're not going to cry are you?" A warm hand rested on his shoulder.

"I'm okay," Raphe said, turning to look into concerned green eyes. "I just... your laugh sounded like someone I used to know."

"Euridice?"

Raphe couldn't help his wince, but nodded. "Yes. My wife."

"Your wife," there was a hint of disappointment. "You're married."

"I was," Raphe said. "She died last year. Some people broke into our house. I guess you could say I'm not quite over it."

"You look really shaken," the younger man said. "Why don't we get you something to drink?"

"I... I'm all right," Raphe said.

"I really have to insist," the man said, taking him by the arm.

Raphe thought about objecting, but he really did feel strange. He let himself be led to the small cafe next to the grocery store. Then he let himself be pushed down in a chair. The umbrella attached to the outdoor table was a nice blue color, making him think of the sky.

"I'll be right back," the man said, then hurried inside.

Raphe set his cloth grocery bag on the ground next to his feet, then just sat staring at the metal tabletop.

He didn't know how he could have believed even for a second that Euridice was back. It was just that that laugh had sounded so much like hers. So happy and pure, like the vocalization of spring.

"Here you go." A cup was set down in front of him, then the young man sat down in the chair across from him.

Looking into his green eyes, Raphe realized they were darker than Euridice's had been. It was actually kind of a relief. And from there he saw that the man's hair was more brownish-blond, than golden.

Raphe lifted the drink, taking a quick sip. " Thank you. I'm sorry. I..."

The man held up a hand, his eyes locked on Raphe's face. "I really don't mind. In fact..." he chewed his lip a second. "This isn't the first time I've seen you. I've wanted to talk to you before, but I just never had the nerve."

"Why?" Raphe asked.

"Because I thought you were really good-looking," the man said, as though it were completely obvious.

Raphe couldn't help blushing. "Oh," he said, lowering his head a little.

Euridice had been his second lover and his first long-term relationship. He'd thought he was going to spend his entire life with her. He'd never looked at anyone else since he met her.

"My name's Alec," the man said, holding his hand out. "What's yours?"

"Oh, I'm Raphe," he said, taking Alec's hand.

It felt like a spark between them and he couldn't help gazing into Alec's eyes.

"Oh," he said again, his lips curving in a shy smile.

Alec's answering grin showed even white teeth. "Oh indeed."


Raphe wasn't quite sure how it happened, but he just seemed to fall into a relationship with Alec. They ate at various restaurants, saw movies together, and went on bike rides all over the country.

For the first time since he lost Euridice, Raphe could laugh freely. He felt as though his life was back on track. The color had been returned to his world.

They dated for several months before they moved beyond simple kisses. Raphe let Alec make the first moves because he really wasn't sure what he was supposed to do.

So when he ended up flat on his back in bed with Alec kneeling between his legs... He felt like a virgin, slightly nervous, but mostly excited, and with Alec's mouth wrapped around his cock...

"I forgot how good this feels," he said, wriggling his toes in the sheets.

Alec made an obscene slurping sound as he swallowed Raphe's cock down. He poked a lube slick finger up between Raphe's buttocks.

Having his cock sucked kind of took away the bulk of the fear Raphe might have felt at having a finger up his ass. And when Alec bobbed his head up and down, then just brushed against Raphe's prostate, he found himself coming harder than he ever had before.

When he came back to himself, he couldn't help grinning at Alec goofily.

"Hey," he said.

Alec sat up, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. "Hey back," he smiled.

"Thank you," Raphe said. "This is where I say 'Thank you,' right?"

"You can if you like," Alec said. He crawled up Raphe's body to kiss him on the lips. "Now that you're all relaxed and everything, do you think you'd mind if I fucked you now?"

Raphe paused to think a moment. He really liked--maybe even loved--Alec, and he hadn't completely hated having a finger up inside him. He figured that with enough lube, well, it was something he was a bit curious about.

"If you promise to suck my cock again later," Raphe said, "and you use a lot of lube."

Alec pecked his lips, his green eyes gleaming with excitement. "I'll use the whole tube," he promised. "And I give you a blank BJOU."

"'BJOU'?" Raphe asked.

Alec laughed. "A blow job owe you. I'll give you as many as you like."

Raphe was busy laughing, so nearly missed Alec lubing his cock. Then he found his legs being bent up and back and Alec was fingering his hole.

On one hand, Raphe thought everything was happening a little fast. On the other, it actually felt pretty weird, kind of squishy, maybe a bit uncomfortable. Then there was the sting of pain and he was about to tell Alec to stop when...

"Oh," he said, his eyes going wide and his breath catching.

"Oh yeah," Alec said right into his ear, then kissed his cheek before gripping Raphe's thighs and carefully beginning to thrust into him.

There was some pain, then it began to feel good. Really good.

His cock only got half-hard, but he still felt kind of as though he'd come again by the time Alec gasped and came hard inside him.

"Wow," he said, lying on his back staring up at the ceiling.

"Wow good, or wow bad?" Alec asked, lying on his back next to him.

"Wow as in I wouldn't mind doing it again," Raphe said.

Alec turned his head to grin at him. "Nice. And I wouldn't mind letting you do me either."

Raphe flopped a leg over Alec's thigh and smiled. "Sounds like a plan to me."


Raphe could never forget Euridice, but he could move on with his life. And he was thankful everyday for meeting Alec.

Then came the day Alec asked him to marry him, and there was no hesitation when he said "Yes."

He thought Euridice would be happy for him. She had always been so joyful and full of life. Her laughter had been sunshine and hope and she had always made him believe the world was going to be better.

He felt as though she was with him every step of the way as he and Alec planned their wedding. He even kind of thought that in some way she had been the one to help him meet Alec.

The thought brought him great comfort.

So when he received a call from her mother, he didn't hesitate to drive to Euridice's childhood home to meet Hermione and Gallagher, her parents.

"Wait for me here?" he asked.

Alec grinned and lifted his reader. "Of course I'll wait for you. I've got a really good book, so you go ahead and take your time."

Raphe leaned over and gave him a quick kiss on the lips. "You're the best."

"I know," Alec said, giving him a cheeky grin.

Raphe shook his head with a laugh, then climbed out of the car, slamming the door behind him.

Looking up at Euridice's old house, he felt a sudden chill. There was just this sense that something was very wrong.

Drawing in a deep breath, Raphe walked up to the front door and hit the doorbell. He heard the loud gonging sound deep inside.

After a long moment, the door opened and Hermione was standing there. "Raphael," she said, opening the door wide for him to come in.

"Hermione," he said, nodding at her and coming inside. "I wasn't really expecting you to call me."

"Darling, you're family," she said.

He gave her an uncomfortable smile and followed her through the large house. "Did you get the invitation?" he asked.

Her smile back at him was brittle. "So you're really marrying some man, are you?"

"His name is Alec," he said.

"I don't care what his name is," Hermione said. "How can you betray my daughter like that? She loves you so much."

He froze. "Euridice is dead. I still miss her, but I can't throw my whole life away because she's not coming back."

Hermione turned to face him, her eyes manic. "But she is coming back."

"What?" Raphe seriously wondered if she had lost her mind or something.

"Come here." She led him down a hallway to a white door he couldn't help recognizing with a twinge.

Euridice had taken great pleasure in showing him her bedroom. It was still decorated in little girl style and they had giggled and hushed each other as they made love on her old princess bed. The unblinking eyes of the doll collection her mother had forced her to keep had kept creepy watch over them.

Now he was standing in front of that room. A room he had never been back to since that day.

"She's been waiting for you," Hermione said.

"I don't understand," Raphe hated how breathy his own voice sounded.

Hermione pushed the door open. "See?"

Time seemed to still and Raphe couldn't help walking forward into that room.

A little girl's dream bedroom of purples and pinks and white filmy curtains. Bookcases filled with picture books and fairy tales. And in the middle of the room a platform bed covered in pale purple blankets.

"Oh no, what have you done?" Helplessly he walked closer to that bed, staring down at Her.

She was beautiful lying there, her long curls spilling off the pillow in a fall of liquid gold. She was dressed in a long white nightgown with lace at the collar and the wrists of her crossed hands. Her skin was pale with moon shadows under her eyes, but she was still the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.

He reached out his hand to touch her, then froze. He couldn't force his fingers to go those last few inches.

"It was very expensive, but we thought it was worth it to have our angel back," Hermione said.

"Wh-why didn't you tell me?" Raphe asked.

"Because we weren't sure it would work and we didn't want to get your hopes up." Hermione walked around the other side of the bed so she could look across her daughter's body at him. "But she'll be back with us soon and she loves you so much."

"Why is she just lying there like that?" Raphe asked, staring at Her face. She never moved, didn't even seem to breathe.

"They didn't want us to take her yet, but we felt she needed to be home." Hermione brushed her hand against Euridice's face. "She's supposed to wake soon, then she'll be back with us again. Back with you."

"No." Raphe had heard the stories about Ego Corp and people making clones of their loved ones. Implanting them with memories so there would be no differences between the original and the clone. "No."

He backed away from the bed, shaking his head. "Euridice is dead. That's... that's just some ghost of her. A monster wearing her face."

"Don't talk about her that way!" Hermione shrieked. "She's your wife. She loves you. My baby loves you!"

He glanced at her face, seeing her bulging eyes and her screaming mouth. And when she lunged at him...

Raphe didn't hesitate. He whirled around and fled the room and toward the front door. He could hear her chasing after him, and he ran faster, leaping through the front door.

He raced as fast as he could down the driveway away from that house of horrors and back to Alec, back into the sunlight. And he ignored the voice inside that insisted Euridice was calling his name the entire time.

He never looked back.

=THE END=