InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "I'm too sexy for Squeaky"

Elijah Clément (priceoffreedom) wrote in nosuchplace,
@ 2009-08-21 21:36:00

Entry tags:

elijah clément, zach kitano

Wednesday: February 6, 2008
Who: Elijah and Zach
When: Mid-morning
Where: Zach and Nico's cottage
What: Elijah checks up on Zach, and proposes an idea.

The incident from the day before angered Elijah more than he readily admitted. He put on a happy face, one that held questions at bay, and kept all of his negative emotions inside. His heart was full of turmoil, and uncharacteristic guilt. He felt guilty for not being able to protect the young alchemist from the grips of the insane werewolf. Though he and Zach were not bound to one another through traditional alchemic means Elijah still felt very protective of Zach.

It was the reason for Elijah's most recent decision to stay by Zach's side. He would make damn sure that the werewolf named Danté wouldn't get anywhere near Zach ever again. It didn't matter that Danté was locked tight in the dungeon Elijah only knew that as long as that monster was still alive Zach was still in danger. The only thing that worried Elijah was whether or not Zach would accept his help. It wasn't looking to emasculate the alchemist, or to fight his battles for him. There were things that Zach could take care of without the elemental's help. A crazed werewolf willing to kill for a girl wasn't one of them. It made Elijah wonder if Adrienne was really worth all the trouble at all.

He arrived at Zach's house, and noticed a basket of cookies wrapped neatly in cellophane waiting on the doorstep. He picked it up, and then knocked firmly on the wooden door. He hoped it wasn't so early that Zach wouldn't be awake, and if it was he didn't mind waiting there until he woke up. He would stand guard like a sentinel, unwavering in his task. That is if Zach didn't answer the door first.

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coalintodiamond
2009-08-23 04:20 am UTC (link)

Zach had awoken at an odd hour of the morning in his bed, his body still aching as a reminder of what he had gone through within the last few days. If that wasn’t enough to remind him, there was the vivid and terrifying dream he had just escaped from by suddenly jolting awake. A lot of people liked to pretend they were tough, like nothing could faze them and all they had to do was heal before they were ready to throw a punch to even the score, but Zach knew the truth. You didn’t come out of a near death experience with a psychopath and not have some leftover issues from it. It didn’t work that way in the real world. You weren’t Superman when all was said and done. Mostly, you just felt violated — like someone reached through your chest and torn out a piece of your soul without asking. Something they weren’t supposed to be able to grab from you, but they managed to do it anyway. Things like that left a scar, no matter how big or small.

Zach wasn’t Superman when he woke up. He just felt scared. He didn’t feel safe in his own bed anymore. Dante showed up in his own home and tore him from it. How was he supposed to be okay with that? He wiped the sweat from his forehead and took a deep breath before getting up to go to the kitchen.

One glass of ice water later, he plopped down on the couch with a blanket and a pillow and stared at the doorway so hard that if looks could burn through wood there would have been two smoking holes in the center of the front door. Instead, it just looked the same as before. Zach rubbed his eyes and tried to close them, hoping one last time he’d be able to get some sleep that didn’t involve him having a nightmare. It was the fourth one in three days.

Sleep started to look like the enemy.

Resounding knocks shocked Zach upright on the couch, eyes wide and alert, as his heart pounded in his chest. It was just a visitor. Dante was quiet. He didn’t knock.

Getting up from the couch, Zach walked over to the door in his pajamas. He took the handle, hesitated, but eventually opened the door. When he glanced up, the last person he expected to see had been Elijah. “Oh,” Zach said, sounding almost a little disappointed. “ . . . What are you doing here?”

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priceoffreedom
2009-08-25 12:43 am UTC (link)

Zach's disappointed tone wasn't lost on the elemental. He took it in stride, and smiled in the face of it. "Well it's nice to see you, too," he said with a small chuckle. He hoped his little joke would bring a smile to Zach's face since the boy was definitely down in the dumps. He couldn't blame him for his mood not when he was literally on death's doorstep a couple of days ago.

"Here, this is for you," he said suddenly as he held out the basket of cookies to the boy. "Not from me, though. I don't do the Betty Crocker shit," he clarified. "But they look good." He nodded his head toward the gift basket so that Zach would take them from him. Maybe if he was lucky Zach would offer him some later on.

There were a few minutes of silence where Elijah just looked the alchemist over. He could tell that the boy hadn't had a good night's sleep with the dark circles that were beginning to form under his eyes. It only made the elemental more protective of Zach, and it made his hatred for Danté grow exponentially. Though the lycanthrope had taken the boy for a few hours he had left a lifelong scar on the boy, and that was something that didn't sit well with Elijah. "I've got a proposition for you," he said finally. "Can we talk inside, or would you rather stay here?"

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coalintodiamond
2009-08-28 03:13 am UTC (link)

Zach didn’t mean to make Elijah feel bad. It was just one of those days. Well, it was worse than one of those days, but Elijah would have understood. The elemental knew what happened lately, and it only made sense that was why he was here in the first place.

“Hm,” Zach hummed in his throat, not really sure how else to respond. He knew it was a joke, but the mood to laugh at it wasn’t in him. The hum of acknowledgment was as far as Elijah was going to get for it. Zach had yet to open the door that morning, so the basket of cookies confused the younger man beyond anything. He stared at them blankly for a moment before actually reaching out to take them. A much delayed reaction if there ever was one. After all, it wasn’t like he was expecting some sort of package to drop on his lap today.

Zach turned the basket around in his hands, and it took a moment to dawn on him who they were from. His heart dropped a little in his chest as he realized Adrienne must have baked them for him. There was even a note attached. He knew Adrienne made them.

Zach snapped out of it to look up at Elijah. “Um, we can go inside,” he said, parting the way for Elijah to enter the house by leaning against the door to hold it open.

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priceoffreedom
2009-08-28 04:09 am UTC (link)

The elemental took the boy's mood easily. He didn't expect him to be all sunshine and roses, and he didn't want him to pretend to be either. Zach just needed to be himself, and Elijah would be more than happy to stand back and guard the young alchemist from afar.

Elijah noticed the way Zach examined the basket. It was obvious to the elemental that a girl had put it together for him, and the only girl that could have done it was Zach's girlfriend, Adrienne. It was the sugary kind of sweetness that would have elicited a snarky comment or two from the elemental, but Elijah thought it best to keep his mouth shut.

"From the girlfriend, huh," he asked when he finally stepped inside the house. His own question made him wonder why Adrienne wasn't there with Zach in the first place. A good girlfriend would have been there to support her boyfriend, not just send him a basket of cookies. He would have said something, but he didn't want to intrude on the boy any more than he already was.

He stopped a few steps inside the cottage, and closed the door behind him. "I heard about what happened," he said calmly. "It's a shitty thing for anyone to go through, but you're a tough kid. Real tough for getting through it. You take as much time as you need to process and shit, and don't let anyone try to rush you. Y'hear?" Elijah took a couple of steps toward Zach, and looked at the boy square in the eyes. He didn't touch his shoulders, he just stared firmly at the boy. "I know there's plenty of shit you can take care of on your own, but I hope you won't try to stop me from standing guard around this place. I'm done taking chances with that bastard even if he is behind bars."

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coalintodiamond
2009-08-29 03:54 am UTC (link)

Zach stepped over to the coffee table to deposit the cookies on top. They ended up on a pile of random magazines. Video game guides with help sections, walkthroughs, and some cheat codes. The magazines at the bottom were probably Nico’s Maxim magazines, buried from the eye on purpose for the sake of guests. Elijah didn’t move to sit down, so when Zach turned to face him again he didn’t really know what to do other than to stand there and wait for Elijah to say something else.

He wasn’t sure how he felt to hear those things come out of Elijah’s mouth, but the delivery was just right. It helped him feel a little bit more relaxed. Zach nodded his head as he swallowed past the dryness in his throat. The sensation was uncomfortable. “Yeah,” he echoed back, his eyes briefly looking somewhere over Elijah’s shoulder instead of at the older man. It was hard for Zach to look at Elijah like an equal. He looked too much like he could be a father, and Zach was raised on respecting and recognizing elders. Technically, Elijah was an elder. If it were Nico or James, Zach wouldn’t hesitate to chat with them. Something held him back with Elijah, and he couldn’t put his finger on why.

His eyes met back with Elijah’s once he stepped closer. It was instinctual for him to decline the offer, so Zach shook his head. “That’s really not necessary,” he began. “I mean, I’ll be fine. There’s not another crazy man out there looking for my blood, so I don’t think I have to worry about that.” Zach walked past Elijah to head to the couch. He felt like sitting down.

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priceoffreedom
2009-09-02 12:39 am UTC (link)

The fact that Zach didn't answer his question about the girlfriend told Elijah that there was trouble in paradise. A fight most likely, but the elemental wasn't going to ask. It was best to leave sleeping dogs lie.

Elijah didn't really expect Zach to accept the proposition, but it wasn't like the elemental was asking for the boy's permission. He was being courteous; making Zach aware of the decision he had already made. It didn't matter what the boy said Elijah was going to stand guard whether he agreed or not.

"That's not the point," he said. "You'll sleep easier at night if you know without a doubt that you're safe. I can tell you haven't been sleeping. Dark circles," he said bluntly. He let Zach by him as the boy headed toward the couch. With everything the alchemist had been through Elijah was surprised the boy was functioning at all. The fact that he was was evidence that he a fighter, and that made the elemental very proud.

"Look, you won't even know I'm around. I can disappear, though the air would be more humid because of it. Hell, I can even turn into a puddle." And he did then, a medium sized puddle right in the middle of Zach's floor. It was a few minutes before he returned to normal with a quirky grin on his face. "I'd do that outside, obviously, but you get the picture."

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coalintodiamond
2009-09-02 08:31 pm UTC (link)

Zach sat down before glancing up at Elijah and giving him a look — a look that said he wasn’t happy with the elemental’s response. He had just made it clear that he didn’t want Elijah standing guard outside of his house, but it looked like he wasn’t going to get his wish no matter how hard he stressed it. Zach let out a sigh and looked away. He knew he had dark circles under his eyes, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t getting any sleep. He just wasn’t getting the best kind of sleep. Still, he wasn’t about to mention that to Elijah.

Elijah’s sudden transformation into a puddle on the floor caused a splash on the ground, and a few drops of water came up and sprayed Zach. He immediately wiped his face on his sleeve, glaring at Elijah when he got the chance. “Oh, great, you just had to splash me with your man-water.” Zach tried to shake it off his sleeve, but it had absorbed into the cloth. It gave him the shivers just thinking that water came from Elijah, and not from a cup in the man’s hand either.

“Yeah, next time do that outside,” Zach agreed, before pointing at the elemental. “And no turning into humidity in the air! The last thing I wanna do is breathe in your molecules . . . ” He meant that in all honesty, too.

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priceoffreedom
2009-09-03 02:00 am UTC (link)

Elijah could care less the look Zach gave him. The fact that the elemental was doing this for Zach, to give Zach (and himself) some peace of mind. The boy might not have liked the idea of the elemental standing guard, but after a day or two the boy wouldn't even notice him around. Elijah could completely disappear if he wanted, and not just into humid air as the boy thought.

He chuckled at the response especially the term "man-water", and made a point to remember it for the future. Whatever water remained on the floor was easily absorbed back into Elijah's form leaving Zach's cottage completely dry. "I know you don't like being protected," Elijah finally said as he smoothed out the sleeves of his trench coat. "But I'm not really doing this for you," he lied, but only a little. "I'm doing it for me. I feel better being around here."

Elijah shrugged a little, and didn't say anything else as he turned toward the door. "That's all I came to tell you," he said. There was a ghost of a smile on the elemental's face as he looked over at Zach. "Take it easy, kid," he said. "Eat some cookies, and get some sleep." He opened the door, and let himself out of the cottage before he turned completely into his element. He was a large, aqueous body for but a moment before his form dispersed into the air. Where he was was anyone's guess, but he was already guarding the cottage, and he would do so with his own life.

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Fin.

coalintodiamond
2009-09-03 10:41 pm UTC (link)

Zach wasn’t really surprised to hear Elijah wanted to stand guard for his own peace of mind instead for Zach’s. Even if it was a lie, it only furthered the look of exasperation on Zach’s face. “You know, turning selfless intentions into selfish intentions doesn’t really help your case either,” he told the older man. Although, in a weird way, Zach minded it less if Elijah was doing it just to make himself feel better. It felt like less of an intrusion on Zach, and it put the weakness on Elijah instead of on him. Zach preferred it that way when he thought about it.

Zach didn’t know what to say as Elijah made his exit from the house. He simply nodded his head as he was told to take it easy, and his eyes fell down to the basket of cookies sent by Adrienne. He pulled off the wrapping and grabbed one of the cookies to eat after Elijah was gone. He could have gone out and visited his friends. Spend time out in the open to help himself feel better, but Zach didn’t feel like leaving the cottage. He just wanted to stay home and rest.

Eventually, he lied his head down on the side of the couch and fell back asleep.

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