elijah's eyes fixed themselves squarely on a chip in the ceiling above him, for no other reason than to.. just do it. he found comfort there, lying on his bed, aimlessly lost in thought. he was barefoot, with grey joggers and a loose black t-shirt. a fan slowly, and methodically, cooled the room in a 180 degree arc. today had been.. boring, to say the least; he never the less found comfort in it's melancholic embrace. his journal lie open, spread out against his chest with barely a word on the page. his mind seemed to be everywhere.. and no where. the rumble and nag of his stomach pulled his attention back and with a sigh, he rose.

the place, while not exactly a mess, was buried under disorganization that came from a mind that never stopped. picking up his cell-phone he opened up an internet browser and began reading the latest updates from around the world. it was nearly mindless to reach in and out of cabinets, drawers, and the refrigerator to assemble the ingredients for dinner. cycling to the home button he locked the screen and looked around. "alice?" he called. no reply. "hmm.." he took a can from the cupboard, and a cup of dry food, mixed it together, and set it down on the floor. by the time he turned to walk away, the sounds of her eating filled the silence. "just like a gray.. weak to the call of our stomachs." he chuckled a bit and turned back towards the counter.

a knock at the door forced him to halt. 'who's knocking at this tim-' he thought, stopping when the voice called out. realization hit him like a stampeding tauros. amelia?! 'how did i forget all about this?!' the anxiety in his mind threatened to pour out in a groan before it dawned on him she was still at the door. "uh.. one second please!" elijah called out, racing to his room and fixing any clutter along the way. quickly he applied deodorant and a smudge of cologne before turning back to the hallway.

"okay act cool. act natural. it's just another day, eli. just another day. no biggie." whispers of small reassurances under his breathe as he walked to the door. and with a quick, decisive pull.. he opened it.

"uh.. hey. amelia, right?"

god he was bad at smiling.

Amelia Locke

rather clumsily he pushed himself against the frame of the door. his attempt to act natural and not at all frantic barely clinging to a thread. if you could even still say it was. the smile he plastered on his face slowly faded as he took her in. crimson hair fell perfectly around her cute, delicate face. her smile both kind and warm; the type that people flocked too.

'wow'

her voice pulled him from what probably was a very awkward trance. "oh.. uh," cheeks turned pink under the realization she had just called him cute. words struggled to formulate for.. well.. the first time ever. typically he was terrible with women. but this? this was on a scale he had yet experienced. using his left arm he extended the door wider to allow the woman a better view of the interior. it was far too late to be embarrassed about the place now. "o-oh. please, call me elijah.. or eli. whatever works, really." he awkwardly chuckled off any potential tension. "mr. gray is far too formal."

quickly, but not so quick that it could be read into (hopefully) he took the flowers. "of course not! these are very nice.. thank you. i hope alice doesn't get into them." he half turned inside. "uh, i was just about to start making dinner.. would you like to join me? " he wasn't sure if it was appropriate to show her the place first or.. 'i'm really not good at this.'

as she stepped in elijah shut the door behind her, giving her proper room so as to not come off as creepy or.. serial killery. "your room is this way," he started off, crimson vixen in tow. they continued on down the hall past his room, the blond haired professor stifling any shame from his mess of a room and instead focusing on the task ahead. opening the door, he made room for her to walk by. "i hope it's okay." inside was neat and simple. a twin sized bed with a decent sized wooden dresser not too far off. it, unlike eli's, had a mirror attached to it. on the far end was a small closet. "i know it's not much," he said a bit more peckishly than he would've liked.

careful not to loom over her too much, he turned his attention to the kitchen, visible from just outside her door. "i was about to make dinner, if you wanted to join me? take your time, though, of course. i'm sure you want to get comfortable." despite the awkward start, his smile was genuine and his nerves relatively on their way to calming down. staying just long enough to make sure she didn't need something further before making his way to the kitchen. the sound of a knife hitting the cutting board soon following.

Amelia Locke

in the kitchen he began to feel his tense muscles unwind, a sigh of relief escaping his lips. the counter, while only coming up to a little above his waist, was like a small wall from an anxiety he didn't want to face - err, know how to face. his head perked up each time he saw over the consecutive few minutes. he laughed softly as she struggled to move her suitcase in, and just as he was going to interrupt to volunteer his help, it disappeared past the frame. the sounds of the bed squeaking caused him to hesitate a moment, eyes wide, before he pushed the thought away and continued out his duty.

the counter was filled with a slew of ingredients from a pork shoulder, to a wide array of conidements and spices, to the glass dish he was working with now. humming as he worked, elijah layered the inside of the glass and it's sides in butter and soon followed it up with strips  from a piece of blocked cheese. a voice perked his attention upwards as amelia emerged from her room. almost too casual for meeting a stranger for the first time, she reminded elijah of home. he missed the feeling.

"oh, uhm, yeah, if that's okay?" he posed it as a question - one she could refuse, if she wanted. he understood asking people to help was polite and wanted to give her an out just in case. provided she didn't back out, he continued, "i could use help seasoning the meat." he turned his attention back to the dish. hanging his head to avoid her stare, he did his best to distract himself. 'seasoning the meat? really eli??' real smooth, smart guy. he swallowed thickly.

"i'm fine with any combination you come up, really." lifting his head, his warm smile hopefully encouraged her to use her creative juices. meanwhile, alice made herself home a top the fridge, tail swaying to and fro with curious eyes as she watched amelia.

Amelia Locke

"of course, i appreciate the help," he said through a smile that translated deep into his eyes. the familiar comfort of sharing a kitchen with someone gave elijah a deep, delightful feeling in his chest. he'd done it often with his mom and.. sister. it felt like an eternity since he last did something like this. when she teased him about the meat.. once again a deep crimson rose to his cheeks. eli made a motion to reply but instead found himself perking up curiously as her tiny feet carried her out of the kitchen - a cute ball of energy.

'calm down eli.. don't be weird. just a collegue'

almost as if his own thoughts disappointed him, he went back to tending to the glass dish, a small smile still playing at her lips. cheese; milk; croutons. it was nearly ready. when she returned he looked up once more and couldn't hide the laugh that came surging out. "i should get myself one as well," he noted, regarding how she looked in it. 'wow' was all he could think to himself. he couldn't help but notice how enamored the old thing made her and he was taken back to the coat that now hung by the door. it was a story he'd want to hear about. 

finalizing the prep for his families original macaroni & cheese, he turned around to prep the oven next to her to a solid 450 degrees. more than enough to cook the pork and his dish. he noticed she smelled of strawberries as he passed, making a mental note to make sure he always applied cologne from here on out. elijah had placed her flowers in a long, water filled glass on the center of the table. it would've been rude to do any less.

"if you need any spices we can go to the store, too" he added, hearing her excitement behind him. he didn't exactly have the most profound palate to choose from, and more often than not, he settled for the simple things such as salt and pepper. a woman's touch would be refreshing. his shifting attention was pulled to the sound of her voice as she had finally noticed the third wheel: alice. "oh, i was wondering where she was." he didn't stop prepping the bowl of salad for their dinner as the talked. "that's alice.. she's a diva," eli mentioned with a bit of a laugh.

the normal-type moved slowly as she stood, stretched and jumped onto the counter. "come on, you know you're not supp-" the professor found himself interrupted as the cat braced it's hind legs and jumped, landing squarely and effortlessly on amelia's shoulder. in seconds she was sprawling out on her shoulder blades. "i-i'm really sorry about that. she isn't typically like this... in fact she's never done this before." he made a motion to get the cat off the woman despite being confused and impressed.

how embarrassing.

Amelia Locke

much like how a muk would feel, the meowth melted beneath the woman's touch. the cat's throat rumbled and, much to eli's surprise... she purred. it took nearly every ounce of elijah's being to suppress the emotion that welled up inside of him. it had been a very, very long time since she seenmed so.. content. terrified of which emotion would come out, relief flooded him when he started to laugh. a genuine, deep laugh that took him a minute to get a hold of. as if the walls all came crashing down around you at once and.. you were without a scratch. that kind of relieving laughter. between that and the woman's attempt to create a new word, a new fear crept over him: would he stop laughing before he passed out?!

"i have a certain liking to callow, if i'm being honest." he said, in-between bursts of laughter. tall, slender arms moved towards the seasoned meat and slid it in the top most rack. beneath it, he slid the macaroni in as well and set the timer. elijah doubted he could say no to her — not with those eyes. he moved around her, letting her soak up the little things with alice. making sure things were relatively tidy (not really) he washed his hands in the sink. finished, he turned around, leaning against the counter and crossing his arms. 

"she's usually more.. angst than that," he started, "it's good to see that she likes you." he smiled at the thought, and at her before he pushed off towards the fridge. "it's not much, but, if you drink i have a little something here?" emerging from the fridge he held a bottle with the words charizardonnay on it. a cheap wine; not the best, but not the worst, honestly. careful not to be a clumsy fool he went over to the cabinet and retrieved two cheap wine glasses, pouring a fair amount into each and handing amelia hers'.

"i was thinking we could go grocery shopping this weekend sometime. pick up a few things, and you could get what you think this place needs." he paused, laughing a bit as he took a sip. "and yeah, definitely an apron. i'll need your eye for that."

from behind him, small and groggy, a bulbasaur emerged from the hallway. she yawned deeply and continued her path towards the kitchen.

Amelia Locke

"she.. is a good pokemon," elijah agreed, his eyes turning turning soft. "she was the runt of the litter. her mom had abandoned her for.. some reason," he continued, his eyes turning towards the cat. she watched him silently, face expressionless. "the breeder gave her to my.. family thinking we would save her.. but i think she saved us, y'know?" he did his best to hold any sort of emotion from his voice. it probably wasn't the most convincing.

so far, though, amelia had been a delight. today had been rather melancholic and energyless. in fact, this was going to be eli's first meal since waking up this morning. sharing it with someone seemed to bring back his appetite. mid-sip he paused, moving his glass barely away from his mouth as he watched and listened to amelia stumble over her words. it was an issue had trouble with as well... though for slightly different reasons. he contemplated their working relationship. elijah was often too serious, and amelia.. well, he seriously doubted they had that in common. it would make for an interesting dynamic to say the least.

he turned around to see what the ruckus was about and laid eyes on the bulbasaur as it emerged grouchy, and tired. "oh, she's awake." he set the glass down and rounded the counter top, reaching down and picking the grass-type up. she yawned again in his arms and snuggled close to his chest. "amelia meet.. ariel," elijah introduced. "i named her after one of the moons of Uranus.. but as you can imagine, i typically don't tell people that." he looked a bit red as he laughed at the thought. "as you can see they're both big babies."

he listened as he walked to the cabinet and began to fiddle around with his free hand. grabbing a seperate can from alice's food, he placed it on the counter and retrieved the dry food portion. "i'm sure it's not that bad," he said in reference to the bird pokemon, placing the bowl and ariel down on the counter. "though.. i did have a bad encounter with one not too long ago." blue eyes pondered into thought. "i'm sure it was just a coincidence, though." he mixed the food as he spoke and allowed the grass-type to eat it on the counter. contemplating it for a second, he threw pieces of the salad in there as well which only pleased her.

"luckily, i still needed to clean," the professor said aloud, turning back towards the woman with wine glass back in hand. "so what was it you wanted to pick up?" small talk was.. hard.

Amelia Locke

ariel turned her head in a groggy, bags under her eyes type of look. while she could be grumpy when she was tired, the bulbasaur seemed more or less on the verge of waking up. her expression read only one thing: 'same'. sizing up the red head, ariel turned back towards her dish and continued eating her dinner. elijah wasn't phased by the lack of interaction with a stranger. it was normal around here. "i'll let you explain that to the next person and you'll see what i mean." a quick laugh followed by memories of the few times he tried. awkward, awkward, and more awkward.

at the mention of her pokemon, the rather extroverted woman seemed to retreat into herself. she bore all the canny resemblences of elijah when he was being an awkward wartortle. raising an eyebrow, he didn't interrupt as she spoke. even he wasn't so foolish as to not catch the very not-so-sublte signs it was something she wasn't quite ready to explain. "i'm sure we'll have plenty of time for meet and greets later," he smiled, giving the woman an out to move onto another topic. struggle wasn't a good luck on her. well, it was. but the professor suspected she looked good doing anything.

as amelia continued talking, elijah ran his forefinger across the grass-type's head. while it didn't stop its paced eating, it's closed eyes and softened expression told him that ariel enjoyed the senstation. at the mention of a pikachu clock, his eyes turned towards her, unconsciously blurting out "oh?" to her request. it wasn't the oddest thing he could think of, but it certainly wasn't what he was expecting. behind the glass she grinned and elijah's heart skipped a beat. 'stifle it, dr.' was all he repeated to himself.

seeing her distraught, he interjected quickly.

"i think they have some," it was posed more of an open-ended statement as his mind searched for the true answer. "i remember seeing a raichu one..." nothing came to mind and elijah felt a tinge of disappointment. "but if they don't, we can order one online. don't worry, it'll make a great addition to the place." he smiled reassuringly. from behind amelia, the stove beeped. casting a quick glance, the timer was slowly counting down in double digits now. "oh! looks like it's almost ready."

pushing himself off the counter, elijah went towards the cabinets near the stove. as he walked by amelia he looked at alice, who was now staring at him with a blank face, and grinned. she seemed comfortable. he didn't blame her.. the red hair brought back memories. "i'll get the plates and everything," he trailed off, working as he spoke. "you want to take the napkins and drinks to the table and i'll bring it to you?" alice would only make it a hindrance for her to be reaching up and about for things. not solely because elijah was an extremely well-groomed gentleman.

yeah, that. definitely that.

Amelia Locke