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Days had gone by before the Necromancer had seen hide or hair of the ex-henchman. Dr. Orpheus went about his daily routine as usual. The days had gone by quietly. Well, as quiet as life could possibly be at the Venture compound. So when a knock sounded at his door, nearly a week after Prom night, he was caught off guard. When it was Gary at his door, dressed in jeans and a tee shirt, looking embarrassed and sheepish, Dr. Orpheus was pleasantly surprised.
"Gary! To what do I owe the pleasure of your company on this fine eve?" He asked, opening the door wider to allow the younger man access.
Gary shuffled in, shrugging, and said, "I was bored. Hope you don't mind."
As Orpheus closed the door and literally floated to his comfortable armchair, he frowned. "Bored? Is everyone at Sphinx busy on a mission?"
"No." Gary slouched roughly into another chair. "They all went back to the O.S.I. Sphinx is completely empty. I'm the only guy there."
"Oh dear. I had no idea--"
"So the whole 'make friends' idea is kind of a bust. But it's cool. I get the whole place to myself. Even that big sphinx-thing. Even though it is a little creepy." Gary explained.
Dr. Orpheus sighed, stroking his goatee. If the men at Sphinx were no longer there, that would explain why Al quit stopping by for a visit. He watched as Gary sighed and picked at his jeans. Poor guy.
"Well, you have a friend here, young Gary. My door is always open to you, except, well. When it's not."
That seemed to cheer him up some. The silence that settled in was no longer a terribly awkward one. What else was there to say? It was clear that all Gary really wanted, or needed, was interaction from another human being. As he was about to suggest something they could talk about, like discussing the greater workings of the unknown cosmos, Gary straightened and cleared his throat.
"So, uh. I've had this question for a while. Sort of gnawing at me. Relentlessly." Orpheus blinked and nodded, and Gary went on. "How old -are- you? Your daughter seems like.. 18 at best..."
He didn't get to finish his sentence as Orpheus stood. For a moment, Gary thought he'd offended the older gentleman, but Orpheus said nothing as he went into the kitchen. Gary could hear the clatter of dishes, and a few moments later, the Necromancer returned with a tray of cookies and glasses of milk. He set the cookies on a small table and sat with a satisfied sigh. The question hung in the air for no more than a minute before it was completely forgotten. Didn't really matter, Gary supposed. Dr. Orpheus didn't appear to be that old, after all. Maybe in his fifties. Yeah, that works. The two enjoyed a silence filled with the occasional crunch of cookies and slurps of milk.
"So, uh. Do you have any movies?" Gary fished, wiping crumbs onto his shirt.
Orpheus blinked and shook his head, "Movies? I haven't the time for such trivial forms of entertainment..."
"Oh! You did not just call movies trivial! I'm gonna forget that you said that and make a proposition instead. I'll -assume- you've never seen some of the greatest sci-fi and fantasy works, so how about we have movie nights. I'll teach you a little about movies."
Orpheus was exceedingly quiet as he thought this over. "Movie nights? Well, I suppose. I'd never really had the opportunity to have movie nights."
"What? Dude, you had a wife and kid! How could you not have the time for movie nights with them?"
Gary instantly regretted his words, seeing Dr. Orpheus's kicked-puppy expression. He shifted uncomfortably and tried to change the direction of their conversation. "Um. Yeah, so, anyway. Movie nights. I'll bring the movies, and we can watch em here. Or somewhere with a tv. I think there's one at the Sphinx headquarters."
"Aright then," Orpheus replied very quietly. He tried to smile, but it still looked a little sad. "When shall we start?"
Gary glanced at his watch, thinking. "It's already pretty late, so... Tomorrow night sound good? Then we can meet once a week, or every few days, and just watch movies."
Orpheus nodded, finishing his milk and cookie. "That sounds like an excellent idea!"
That was more like it. Gary was relieved to hear that level of dramatics in the necromancer's voice-- that usually meant he was in a good mood, right? The ex-henchman stood up and dusted his pants off, nodding to himself. "Cool. I know just the movies to start with, too. This is going to be totally awesome."
With an exchange of farewells after that, Gary left Dr. Orpheus to consider the upcoming wonders of a movie night.