Sleepover (Elijah)

Nothin' else seems to hurt
like the smile on your face

It was difficult to give someone a deadpanned gaze from behind dark tinted sunglasses. And yet, it was there. Blind eyes would be accompanied by the raising of a single eyebrow. Sleep on the floor? In his home? The man who cared for his daughter at a time he was not able? "You're sleeping in a bed because you deserve one in my home." Elijah would state simply as he closed the bedroom door so any further conversations had would not disturb the young lady in his living room.

Sweet thing had fallen asleep shortly after resting her head upon the couch's pillow from the sounds of it. Pathos tended to spend her sleepless nights charging in the dining room last he'd known. If this Ms Bazzi needed anything through out the night Elijah was sure that the android would easily assist her with it. After hearing what the human had done for one of his kind, he had no problem with being courteous to someone of such a high caliber.

But this one just didn't want to feel worthy of even the most basic of decencies. Walking away from the door once it clicked successfully closed, he'd make his way to sit on the bed. The socks were the first to come off. "I'm looking for a bigger place now that I have Stella and you in my life but until then I have only one free room. And the young lady deserves her own space so you're in here with me. Call me old fashioned." Elijah would say with a shrug as he cracked his neck prior to pulling off his shirt.

"Do the clothes work that Pathos pulled out for you work?" He'd ask, his back to where Luca most likely stood. "They're probably a bit big, I know." For truly the two men were not the same size. "But they should work for tonight's purpose, right?"

Nothin' else seems to hurt
like the smile on your face

Finally. Goodness, it had taken far too long to convince the water magi that he was worthy of having such a simple accomodation. Yes, Luca had seemed to always be on the shy side since Elijah's first meeting with him. But this seemed to be at a higher level. A skittish that started to set off alarm bells in his head. The older earth magi would continue by standing, unbuckling his belt and beginning the process of sliding off his jeans.

Elijah's job had allowed him to meet a great many people. Magi mostly. Each one having a story, a trauma to work through. This version of Luca felt different from the prior. Not much had been shared detail wise upon first being introduced to Ms Bazzi. But he felt like there were plenty of skeletons that hadn't been shared. Something had happened. As the dropped jeans would be picked up and thrown accurately into the laundry basket that never moved from its place, he would search for the folded up shirt he felt was polite to wear when another person was sharing his bed.

With his head and arms popped through the casual t-shirt Elijah would pull on his pajama bottoms. With a mental note to ask Ms Bazzi for more details come the morrow, he'd tie the bottoms closed around his waist and would make his way into the bed. His blind hands feeling their way through their tasks. It would occur to him at this moment that no other sound was being made across the room. "... Do you need help with anything?" He'd ask the quiet Luca in the room. Is that why he'd suddenly gone silent?

Upon hearing an answer and tending to whatever might be asked of him or not, he'd then allow himself to lay down, pulling the blankets up. "Well then come along. You've had a long journey. I know you must be exhausted.-- Oh, and if the lights are on can you get them for me? Sometimes I forget to turn them off and it jumps up my electric bill."

Nothin' else seems to hurt
like the smile on your face

"Of course." Elijah would reply with a nod. "I was planning on doing any laundry you needed tomorrow along with Ms Bazzi's. Offering you two my washer is the least I can do." The man would wait patiently for Luca to finish up with his tasks outside the bed. The familiar clicking sound informed him that the light had just been turned off.

Only now did he reach up and take off his sunglasses. It was a habit he had taken up with Stella having reentered his life. The facial scars were not kind ones. They were intense and often times left others disturbed. There was a reason he wore sunglasses in the first place. His hand would reach over to place the glasses upon the wooden side table on his side of the bed. Same side as it always had been. There was a strange peace in that fact.

The ability to feel vibrations through the earth was not needed now Elijah gently mused to himself as he rest his head into his pillow. The mattress dipped as his guest lay down. The blankets rustled but with a very light hand. Seemed the newest member of his family was still clinging to his shy tendencies.

"Good night, Luca." The older man would say with a small smile. Time would change that. Elijah was sure of it. The longer he was hugged around the neck and welcomed into his house as an uncle of Stella's, the more comfortable he'd become with the concept. Elijah was patient. He didn't mind how long it might take. He merely took pleasure in knowing that it would come one day and smiled accordingly.

And with that, the over worked man would fall asleep.

Nothin' else seems to hurt
like the smile on your face

Morning light easily filtered through the open window. For most such a front facing window would be covered by curtains to assist with the ever-glorious goal of sleeping in. But of course to a blind man, such a decorative touch had been overlooked. So the older man would continue to snooze away. Pathos had taken it upon herself to turn off any work related alarm after Elijah had disclosed his morrow's plan.

It was clear Elijah was still deeply asleep. There were soft remnants of what could be assumed to be snores. One foot had made its way out from underneath the sheets sometime in the middle of the night. A true face of contentment, surely. However at the sensation of what had been close and warm attempting to move away, his arms took action. Groggy sleep-ridden action, but action never the less.

The form would be hugged tighter into himself. Rolling onto his side with a faint lethargic grumbling, Elijah would embrace the smaller source of warmth with both arms. Most likely to Luca's horror, the earth magi would nuzzle his face into him before all motion would cease just as quickly as it had begun. A quiet descent back into the depths of sleep.

It was of no consequence that outside were the delicate songs of sky birds. Once such finch even hopped along the windowsil. The tiny yellow feather-ed song bird would tilt its vibrantly colored head at the trapped zero magi. For truly what reason was there to be anxious over such a glorious morning such as this?

Nothin' else seems to hurt
like the smile on your face

There would be no immediate response. The earth magi was known for his work ethic. Frankly, meaning that it was unhealthy. His colleagues, even those that were ranked under him, had taken notice of the man's tendency to work himself into the ground. So when Elijah finally fell asleep in an actual bed, he was the equivalent of a rock.

So no, there would be no immediate response. Unless one counted the continuation of that light snoring to be a reaction. It would be quite the few nudges before the older man would stir. Elijah? "Mmm." The earth magi would mumble as he pulled the warmth closer into himself. "M-mm?" Those heavily scarred eyes would peek open a sliver, the blind clouded eyes peering into nothingness. "... Hm?"

Elijah?

That voice was a familiar one. But not necessarily one that he considered to be normal in this situation. Was he hugging Luca to himself. One groggy hand moving upwards and ruffling the smaller magi's hair would answer that question with the affirmative. That definitely wasn't Nasrin, and it definitely wasn't Stella. "Mm, good morning." Elijah would mumble sleepily, last arm unwrapping from around Mr Burke.

At his age there wasn't so much as embarrassment rising as there was a recognition that he was a touch dehydrated. A lengthy yawn would follow as the older man forced himself to sit up. It wouldn't be until he was stretching those arms above his head that he'd be able to ask the question on his mind. "What time is it?" Not yet would he have realized that his sun glasses weren't on yet. The gears of his mind had only just started cranking this morning. The cobwebs of sleep had not been shaken off yet. The disturbing chemical scars he tried so hard to hide from others were on full display.

Nothin' else seems to hurt
like the smile on your face

"Mmm," Elijah stretched his arms lengthily as his brain slowly rebooted into working condition for the new day. "Okay." Eight-ish. That wasn't atrocious. He'd been able to sleep in a couple of hours. That much was nice. Elijah would soon be blinking in Luca's direction at the stammered approach to a question. It took the shy young man a while to work up the courage to ask, but once it came it was a simple enough inquiry. "Down the hall, first door on the left."

The man would nod at any gratitude expressed his way and would listen as Luca would excuse himself to use the facilities. Another yawn would follow once the bathroom door could be heard closing. Calloused hands would rise to wipe the sleep from his eyes only to realize, that's right. He'd just woken up. His scars had been seen. And by a family member no less. Unconsciously more self-aware Elijah would finish rubbing at his face then, only to immediately pull on his sunglasses. No need to disturb others with his presence. It was best to keep them on.

The toilet would be flushing and the sink running by the time Elijah was standing up. No coffee aroma meant Pathos was off working for Mr Ferguson, that centaur that had asked for assistance with his whatever store. Either that or was out with Stella as a companion. His daughter had taken quite the shine to the robotic assistant and he had no reason to have any qualms over the act. Cherche probably did but that wasn't on the forefront of him mind to be quite frank.

Making his way down the hall, feeling his path with hand brushing against the wall as he walked, he'd make his way towards the kitchen. "You want any coffee?" He'd ask loud enough for Luca to hear once he stepped out. "What do you want for breakfast?"

Nothin' else seems to hurt
like the smile on your face

"Vegetarian or vegan?" Elijah would call back as his hands busied themselves getting coffee started. Pathos had really taken over most of the day to day duties, this included. But far from him were the memories of how to do it. It's not like he was -- Elijah blinked as his hand would meet the cool marble counter instead of a coffee tin. Where was the coffee? Brows furrowing, his blind hands would go searching the area. Dammit, Pathos had found a better home for the product.

At the end of the day it was his own fault he couldn't find the beans. The android had been exceptionally thorough in asking permission for new item homes and informing him of where they could now be found. It had been Elijah who had eventually shook his head, assuring the cyborg assistant that if she was in charge of washing the windows, he didn't need to know where the window cleaner was. And so on. At the time he'd found it overwhelming and rather annoying. Being bothered about finding a new home for so many items around the house.

Apparently when he assured he that he trusted her, Pathos had taken it upon herself to re-home many more items than he had expected. Not the coffee. Anything but the coffee. "Well ... at the moment I'm not sure where the coffee is anymore. Seems it's been moved from where I usually put it." Blind hands would pause as it became clear that it definitely wasn't in the usual corner. Balling a hand into a fist the older man would thump his fist unto counter top, his free hand keeping his palm flat onto counter. Waiting. Feeling. The vibrations scattered outwards like a radar upon a submarine.

.... "Oh, she put it up there." Elijah would point to a closed cabinet closest to Luca. "Can you grab it? The coffee tin is on the second shelf." He supposed it made sense to put it up there. Pathos seemed to have rearranged quite a few cabinets so that the coffee supplies were all located above the maker below. He couldn't argue with it. He wasn't going to. "As for breakfast we can have omelets. I know we have some more of those cinnamon bagels left. What are you feeling?"