Who: Eli & Isobel What: The cousins have some quality time Where: Bathos 501 When: Friday afternoon Warnings: Just them being cute?
Isobel had fallen into an easy sort of routine while staying with Eli, and even though she knew it wasn’t a permanent arrangement, part of her wished it was. Solitude was nice and all, but she felt better knowing someone else was around, even if their paths only crossed a few times a day, it was better than a dark apartment where no one else but her moved. Maybe once Eli got tired of her and told her to get out, she’d find a roommate, someone to share some space with. It was something to think upon, at least.
She was off that day, and it was one of those rare days where she had done little but sleep in until her bones begged for activity. But now that she was up, she was up, cleaning up the little messes she had left around the apartment, clearing out the fridge of anything past date, and anything else she could think of that would help Eli out in exchange for how much he had done for her. The radio was on as she scrubbed at the oven, singing along to whatever song played (even if she didn’t know the words), lost in her own little world. The kitchen counter was littered with papers and brochures, items she had been collecting over the last week ever since she had been bitten by one particular idea. From how to get a GED to the requirements for enrolling in college, there was an array of literature laying there.
”Today's Tom Sawyer, he gets high on you, and the space he invades he gets by on you...” Isobel sang along, straining to get further into the oven to get to the back creases where everything liked to gather. Estelle might not have been the best caretaker, but she had done well in teaching Isobel the ins and outs of cleaning a house from top to bottom. Unfortunately, such education was only valuable if one had no intention of working in the real world. But still, it was something she could do, and getting lost in it helped her thoughts to settle.
Eli came through the door without even remembering someone was sharing the apartment with him. He’d seen Preston home, and he’d driven to a local park and sulked. There was no manly phrase for it, no way to couch it in anything other than what it was. He had sulked.
The evening before had been enlightening in ways he didn’t want to think on too long. He’d known Preston had been drinking when he’d fallen into Blake’s arms, and he knew Preston had been poorly the day after the fact. But this, this level of denial of self, it was worrisome in a way that Eli had not even considered possible. He, Eli, was fairly demanding about his own needs, and he could hardly imagine a world in which he could do and say the things Preston had. Yes, he’d gotten quite drunk and kissed Solomon, but it was different. He was trying to figure it out, and he’d spent most of the afternoon sitting on a bench, thinking.
When he walked through the door, however, and he heard the singing, he smiled. He had not truly spoken to anyone about what had happened, and he was suddenly quite glad for Isobel’s presence. “Isobel, can you not sing something from the opera?” he called out, closing the door behind himself. He looked terrible, having only slept an hour the night before, and his limp was still quite pronounced, but there was a slight smile on his lips, no matter how small.
Isobel was halfway through another verse when Eli’s voice broke into her thoughts, causing her to yelp in surprise, and in her hurry to extricate herself from the oven, bump her head against the top of it. She emerged, rubbing the crown of her head, a sort of crooked smile pulling at her lips. “I don’t care for opera,” she said pointedly, giving Eli a look though it faded almost immediately. She tossed the rag she had been using into the sink and pulled off her gloves, stretching for a second before she leaned against the counter.
It was then that she gave Eli a first look up and down, a brow rising at the sight her cousin presented. “I do hope you’re just trying to get into character for a play you’re auditioning for, otherwise...” Isobel trailed off, letting her words hang in the air before she pulled away from the counter and started working on a pot of coffee. “Dare I ask?”
Eli just threw himself on the couch heavily, sitting back against the cushions and fishing his cigarette out of his pockets. He lit one before answering, and he closed his eyes and rubbed them with his free hand as he took a drag. “I have not had the best week, Iso,” he said in the understatement of the century. “Chatter at me instead, love. Did you attend that maze party? How is Finnegan?”
The smell of brewing coffee soon filled the air, rich and aromatic, though she doubted Eli noticed too much considering the stuff was in the air all the time at Reliquary. “And here, by looking at you, I’d say it was one of the worst weeks, but that’s just me.” She abandoned her position by the counter and wandered over to sit down beside him, kicking her bare feet up on the edge of the coffee table in front of them.
“And are you really sure you want to hear my ramblings? Don’t I talk enough for both of us?” A small smile pulled at her lips, watching her cousin with a worried, concerned eye. “I’d say you’re the one that needs to talk. What’s going on?”
Eli scratched his thumb against his forehead, the cigarette still held firmly between his fingers as he did so. “I’m afraid I caught my lover with another man, which is not the best of things,” he said - an understatement. “And since then, I fear he has fallen down this slippery slope of self-damaging behavior that I do not know how to fix,” he explained, giving her a brief smile a moment later. “I do think your maze story would be preferable.”
“Is it really your responsibility to fix it?” Isobel asked, pulling her legs up towards her, tucking them beneath after a shift. “I just mean... Maybe he needs to work on it. Sometimes, other people can’t fix someone’s problems. Case in point.” She gave a wry grin then laughed quietly, her thoughts turning to the maze.
“Uhm...” And then she wondered how to put it. “My story is a little X-rated. Do you really want to know about that, Eli?” Isobel cracked a grin then, giving him a look.
“I know it isn’t my responsibility, and I did inform him we were done, he and I, until he figured out what he wanted. I have it on good authority that what he wants is not me,” he added, voice going heavy for a moment. “But he does not do well alone, and I care about him immensely. I can’t watch him throw his life away. It’s not something I can stand by and allow to happen, whether I am with him or not.” He leaned forward to pick up the ashtray on the coffee table. “I’ve known him since I crossed the portal - seven years ago, if you can imagine such a thing, and he is a very good man. You would like him; he’s kind and soft.” He grinned then. “And I believe I can hear about your maze sex with Finnegan without blushing.”
She listened as Eli spoke, wondering of this person her cousin seemed so fond of, and Isobel couldn’t help but hope that things somehow worked out for them. Eventually. “Sounds like he and I would have a lot in common when you describe him like that.” The concept of knowing someone for that long did boggle her. “You’ve known him longer than I’ve been out in the outside world, then. That’s...” Isobel gave a shake of her head. “Kind of hard to believe. Knowing someone that long who isn’t family.”
When the conversation turned to the maze, and who Eli thought she had had her tryst with, Isobel flushed deeply, going so far as to smack Eli on the arm in response. “It was not sex. Not... really. And it wasn’t with Ray. I haven’t even seen him since he-” Isobel paused then. “Did you know he got out of jail? I didn’t know. He called me though. But it wasn’t him in the maze. It was...” Isobel trailed off, letting out a laugh. “Someone new. I actually met him in Reliquary on Wednesday.”
“Not Ray,” Eli said, and his voice didn’t hide the fact that he thought that might be a promising revelation. “Is he law abiding?” he asked, because that was a concern, apparently.
Of course Eli would press on that fact. Isobel laughed and gave a shrug of her shoulders. “Honestly? I have no idea. I’ve only met him once and it’s not like we’re in a relationship. It was just fun. Could be more fun, but I’m not expecting anything from it.” Her smile was easy and she gave Eli a prod on the arm. “You disapprove that much of Ray?”
“I think I would like you to have a suitor who is not in jail when you need him, Iso,” Eli said simply. “I do not think he is a bad man, but I think I would like something different for you, something more stable, less criminally involved, possibly cognizant enough to keep you from piercing things or jumping off buildings with chords tied to your ankles.”
At that, Isobel stuck her tongue out at him, giving the stud a lick against her teeth. “It was one piercing. And it was bungee jumping. It’s perfectly safe. You should come with me sometime!” Isobel gave him a grin, reaching out to give him another prod. “As for relationships... I think I’m kind of happy just being... me, right now. Though I’m pretty sure this is affecting Ray more than it is me, and I’m not entirely sure what to think about that.”
He smiled when she said she was happy being herself, thinking it was the best thing he’d heard her say since he found her again on this side of the portal. “I was telling Preston he needed to do precisely that - find himself before he attempted to be in any sort of a relationship.” Sadly, he added, “I think standing on one’s own two feet can be frightening for those of us without your emotional fortitude.” He reached over and draped an arm over her shoulders, looking at her. “We’re doing quite badly at this whole happily ever after business,” he informed her, lest she not have noticed.
“I think ‘happily ever after’ is rather overrated the more and more I think about it,” Isobel replied, leaning against him after he draped his arm around her shoulders, kicking her feet up on the arm of the couch. “l was happy with Ray. But I don’t think happiness lasts very long, at least not the kind that comes in fairytales. It’s all...” She waved a hand in the air. “Unrealistic.” A smile pulled at her lips and she settled in, her eyes closed.
“I didn’t tell you my better news, Eli,” she said, her voice singsong.
“I think perhaps Ray is merely not the one,” he said, using air quotes when he said the one. He let his head loll back, the cigarette long gone from between his fingers. “Tell me your better news,” he said, closing his eyes as well. It reminded him of being home with his sisters, this quiet closeness, and it helped calm him. “And then I shall actually ask you for direct advice. I fear you’ve lulled me into it.”
Isobel laughed again. This closeness was... nice. A bit unfamiliar and strange, but something she found herself getting used to. She never had anyone her age around as she was growing up, never anyone to confide in, not that she had had anything to confide in anyone, but it was the thought that counted. “Ray may not be the one right now,” Isobel countered, fingers hooking around the words like Eli had, “but who knows what will happen in the future.” There was quiet for a short time and she tilted her head back to look up towards him.
“I want to go to school. I’ve never been to school, but...” Isobel trailed off for a moment. “I can’t waitress all my life, you know? So... I thought it could be a good idea. Going to school. Though I have no idea where to start. Can you falsify a high school diploma? I think twenty-three is a bit old to go to high school...”
Eli opened one eye, and he laughed fondly and dragged her closer and pressed a comfortable kiss to her hair. “We shall break the law and obtain a high school diploma for you,” he assured her. It was such a simple thing, such a tiny request given the level of chaos in their lives lately that it was almost a relief to hear something so completely normal. “I feel quite certain we can even assure you’re admitted to the university.”
Isobel laughed as well, ducking her head a little at the kiss to her head. “Is it really that easy? Getting a falsified diploma? Here I was, ready to study for the GED and I don’t even know what’s on a GED.” She settled back down, pleased at his reaction. “Aren’t you even going to ask me what I want to study?”
“Nursing,” he decided, giving her a look before she could suggest asking again. “Or perhaps a fullblown doctor. Someone that helps people.” He smiled. “It isn’t that easy, no, but if it means you come home with no new holes in your person we shall endeavor to make it happen at all costs.”
Isobel laughed quietly and leaned back in against him, nodding her head. “Only because you mentioned it that one time. I don’t think I want to be a nurse, though. I like being in charge.” A grin pulled at her lips and she laughed again, humming her pleasure. “I’ll probably fail miserably, but... it’s worth a shot, isn’t it? And new holes in my person wouldn’t be that bad. We could go together! Or get a tattoo to mark this turning point in our lives!” Isobel giggled, glancing back up to him. “And now it’s your turn,” she stated, not giving him time to argue with her. “Ask for advice from your lovely and beautiful cousin!”
He quirked a brow at her self compliments, and then he laughed and shook his head, closing his eyes again. “You’ll make a lovely doctor,” he told her, before continuing. “Should I keep trying, do you think? With this man? He was upset, became inebriated and had sex with someone he’d been with in the past. Is that indicative of a lost cause, in your aged and professional opinion? And if we’re to get tattoos, must mine say cuckold?”
A sharp poke to his ribs was given at his suggestion of a tattoo. “No. It will not say ‘cuckold’,” she said with another poke before settling back in. “As for your... boyfriend? I’m honestly not sure. It seems like he has a lot of growing up to do before he’s ready to be in a relationship. But if you really like him, then maybe it’s worth being patient for him. Letting him have these... missteps and misfucks. Let him get them out of his system and maybe after that, his head will clear and things might get better?” Isobel blinked, looking out around the room as she pondered over her own words. “I say this like I know. But it’s what I would do, if I were you.”
“Do stop being wise beyond your years,” Eli said, leaning his head back further and sighing. “And I would not be adverse to something warm to eat once I wake from my impending nap.”
She couldn’t help but laugh quietly at that, shifting to watch him as he settled further back. “I’m not that smart, so don’t joke. But I’ll fix something up for us here in a bit. You get your rest. I’ll get out of your way for now.” Isobel got up to her feet, reluctantly extricating herself from under his arm and grabbing the throw that lay over the arm of the couch. “Lay down. I’ll tuck you in, Eli.”
Eli rolled his eyes. “I’ll remind you that I am the elder cousin,” he said, even as he sprawled out on the couch. “Do not let me sleep overly long,” he added, eyes already closing in exhaustion.
“Yes, and I’ll remind you that I’m the cuter cousin,” Isobel said in jest, laughing as she tucked the throw around him, watching him for a moment. “I’ll get you in a bit. We’ll have dinner. Make an evening of it. So get some sleep.” And then she leaned over, actually giving him a kiss on the forehead before she scurried away to the bedroom to give him some peace and quiet.