Elijah furrowed his eyebrows, though he wasn't surprised she didn't check to see if he got food or not. She never really liked it when he took the initiative, especially not when she told him no. Elijah looked at her, silent for a few seconds, and watched her struggle with her shoelaces. Either she didn't want to go out, or she really was struggling with her laces. He bit back a smile and finally spoke.
"I went ahead and got food," he replied, slow and soft, a huge contrast with how his voice was mere hours ago. "Rabbit meat and some fruits. I don't know how to cook, so…"
She glanced up at Elijah just as she had gotten one of her shoes on and tied, a mix of emotions on her face. Elyse looked slightly relieved that he had gotten food, as well as angry or at least bothered that he hadn't listened to her when she said she would get it. His tone was gentle though, and her feelings of being bothered vanished quite quickly. More than likely he had just been looking out for her, something she hadn't let someone do for years.
"Thank you," She said, not bothering to untie her boot and instead starting on the other. At least when she was done she could go for a walk or something. "I can take care of it, well, cooking it at least. Next time though, I'll go get something, that way you don't have to." She shot a light scowl at him, though she clearly wasn't that mad, "Ok?"
With that, she stood and made her way to the tiny kitchen, unbothered by her one untied boot.
Elijah set aside his blades as he watched her go. He knew she was upset, but thankfully not angry. Her boot was untied, and it took a lot out of Elijah to not point that out. She knew it was untied; she just didn’t want to tie it.
“You aren’t entirely safe here,” he finally responded, leaning back on the couch. “Which is why I’ll be the one going outside. Until I’m sure no vampire will be in the vicinity.”
"Nope, you're not keeping me in here," She replied immediately, opening the fridge and pulling out the fruit and rabbit meat, "That wasn't part of our deal. Should I make food for you too? Or are you not eating this?"
Even as she talked to Elijah, she started to get things ready for a meal, washing the fruit and searching for a pan to start cooking the meat in. Cooking definitely wasn't her strong suit, but she could manage to make something edible without burning things or not adding enough seasoning. Because of the time it took, she had never been a fan of the activity, combined with the fact that outside of kitchen duty, she didn't ever cook anything. Even before joining the rebellion, humans weren't exactly allowed to cook meals since it required knives.
Elijah frowned at her instant dismissal and followed her into the kitchen, where he leaned against the wall, watching.
"It's dangerous. You don't know what would go wrong if you were to go out like this. I'd feel much better if I were to accompany you," he said. At her following questions, his eyes fell on the smaller fridge in the corner. "And no, thank you. I've already eaten."
By that, he meant he had already drunk blood, which he knew she'd understand even without him telling her exactly. He let his eyes trail her again, then pursed his lips and made a judgement. "You aren't used to the kitchen."
Elyse finally located a pan and triumphantly set it next to the meat as she listened to him talk. "I know it's dangerous and I'm very well aware of what could go wrong Eli," She said, "I can handle myself against a vampire or two." Her words weren't completely a lie, but from her slight pause after mentioning more than one vampire, it was clear she wasn't completely sure about that.
Even as she talked, she continued her search around the kitchen, sparing him a glance every so often. The faster she learned where everything was kept, the faster she could start cooking and finally eat. All she needed was to find a knife and something to flip the meat once she was able to start cooking it once she got the small stove working.
"I hoped it wasn't that obvious," She admitted, shrugging, "I didn't really try to spend much time in the kitchens unless I had to. But I know the basics and can cook something simple like this."
Elijah didn’t help her as she shuffled around. As children, she used to get extremely angry if someone helped without asking. She liked to decide herself if she wanted help, and Elijah wasn’t keen on trying to see if that habit still lingered.
“I’m aware you can handle yourself,” Elijah started slowly, tapping his fingers against his arm. “But I’m only trying to keep you safe until I’m sure no vampire from my coven is nearby.”
My coven. Elijah knew he wasn’t a part of Lilith’s coven anymore, not after this, but this was a habit he didn’t think he could break. It had been his home for years. Despite the horrors, the vampire feared the coven would remain “his coven.”
"Can we come to a compromise then?" She asked, locating everything she needed but not starting to cook just yet. The food could wait a minute as she finished talking. "Until you tell me that the coast is vampire clear besides you, I'll stay within sight distance of the house and if I want to go any further you can come with me?"
The wording that he used almost brushed by her, but then she realized he had said it was his coven. Whether she liked it or not, the girl realized that he had lived in that nest of vampires for years, of course, he was going to get attached to it and eventually call the coven his own. Elyse could handle that fact, as much as it didn't sit right in her stomach.
Before she could let her thinking get the best of her, she turned to the food, starting the process of getting the meat to cook while glancing at her friend, "You don't happen to have any spices or anything here, do you?"
(Gosh, this was short)
Elijah rubbed his forehead. For the first time in his life as a vampire, he recognized the feeling of a headache. Elyse was not annoying, or bothersome, but even as children, she used to give him a headache. She was so stubborn and bossy, it brought a smile to his features.
"You haven't changed," he mused. "You're still stubborn, Glad to see that didn't change. All right, Elyse, I understand. You never really liked being caged, anyway. And I have a few in the cabinets, surprisingly."
(It's cool, both of mine are short)
Elyse stuck out her tongue at him but right after flashed a tiny thankful smile at him, "Glad to see that you remember something about me, Eli. You're still overprotective as well."
She opened the cabinets one by one until she found the spices, pulling out what she needed. Before long it was added to the now cooking meat, and as the pan it was in heated up, the smell of cooking food started to fill the house. Having Elijah stand around in the kitchen didn't bother her, if anything she was happy he still tolerated being around her. It made her feel less alone in the house. Especially since the house itself still looked blank and not special at all.
“I remember everything about you, Elyse,” Elijah responded without missing a beat, raising an eyebrow in response to her cheeky action. Though he didn’t understand why she thought he didn’t remember. Of course he did. There was no way he would have forgotten. “My being a vampire changed nothing.”
Her smell kept flickering and changing, he noticed. What she was thinking about, he didn’t know, but it confused him. He supposed he’d ask her, but later. Chances were she was still thinking about her teammates, and wondering if they were all right.
"I didn't forget anything about you either Elijah," She replied, taking her attention off the food to talk to him for a few minutes, "Not even the time you chased me around with a piece of rope pretending that it was a snake." A flash of nostalgia flickered onto her face at the memory, and it wasn't hard to see that once again the tiniest of smiles settled onto her lips, "You and Edward both, you turds. I didn't walk in the tall grass for weeks after that, remember?"
For the first time in a while, the memory she was recalling was one that she liked, or at least it wasn't horrifying. It was a memory she liked, looking back at the few moments of actual fun the four had been able to find in that terrible time. Elyse was almost surprised at how different her life was now from back then. She was trying to kill a vampire that had a blood link to Eli, had the rebellion most likely scouring the land for her, and while all this was happening, she was currently cooking a meal in a secluded house with her vampire of a best friend.
Elijah couldn't help it. He laughed, throwing his head back as the memory came back to him. He and Edward loved to prank Elyse, though Elijah wouldn't admit he mostly did it to get her mind off of their situation. And she always used to get mad, hands on her hips, her lips pursed and chubby cheeks puffed up.
"You didn't talk to us for a couple of days," he finally responded when the laughter died down, and then confusion settled in because the last time he'd laughed was before his little world had been ripped apart. "Even had Lilah refuse to talk to us. She was such a follower."
She'd been the baby of their little group, Lilah. Thinking about it instantly put him in a bad mood. Lilah… she'd been the first to go. He couldn't get her panic-stricken, teary eyes out of his mind. It had tortured him for months. He couldn't get the screams out of his head, of kids he had sworn to protect, and then fail miserably. He fell silent, his smile dropping, and looked away.
Did they have the right to be laughing? They'd started out as five. Him, Elyse, Edward, Lilah, and… he released a breath. He had no right to be laughing when he'd failed them all.
Elyse was supprised by his laugh, especially as she joined in and laughed over the memory. As soon as she finally stopped smiling, she was hit with a realization. That had been the first time she had laughed in years, the first time she had laughed over a memory of their group. Elijah's playful smile stuck in her mind from that day, the smile he almost always returned to her anger.
"I had to beg Kayla to not beat you and Edward up," Elyse whispered, a half-smile on her face as she thought of the strong-willed girl she had looked up to. Kayla was the mom of the group, quick to protect her and Lilah, boss Elijah and Edward around, or scold all of them over pranks, "She was the one that actually suggested we prank you back."
Almost instantly she was brought back to the day their group was destroyed by Maverick and her face sobered. She cursed herself internally for thinking of them again, for risking bringing back the pained screams and painful memories. Elyse looked away from her friend, turning back to the food and shaking her head. "I hate remembering the past…every single time I remember a fun moment..I'm brought back to that day and I can't get their screams out of my head." Her voice was no louder than a whisper, almost unheard over the cooking food.
Elijah rubbed the back of his neck and breathed through his nose. He understood that. It was something he went through as well. When he was newly turned, thinking of fun memories always instantly turned to bloodshed and gore. He remembered everything in great detail; Maverick draining the life out of Lilah. Maverick ripping Edward to shreds. Maverick slitting Elyse's throat. And Kayla… he squeezed his eyes shut, pinched the bridge of his nose, and forced those memories away.
"I understand," he murmured. "I turned my feelings off for that specific reason. You all had died right before my very eyes. I couldn't continue having those memories drown me."
He never really asked Elyse how she had survived, and he wasn't about to—not unless she told him herself. Some memories were better left untouched.
"Sometimes I wish I could turn my emotions off..the downside of being human," Elyse muttered, shaking her head, "I'll never be able to remember that day without feeling terrible about surviving while all of you guys had died." She flipped over the meat in the pan as she talked, trying to fend off the emotions that she never let surface.
Surviving that day had been nothing short of a miracle and she was well aware of that. She had been lucky that Maverick hadn't taken the time to properly slit her throat. It had been torture, to watch her friends die as she could do nothing more than sob and will herself to stay alive for a few more minutes. Even thinking about how lucky she had been with the rebellion finding her, she hated that she had just left them for dead.
With her thoughts clouding her mind, she fell silent quickly, focusing on the food instead of Elijah.
Elijah watched her quietly, though he made no move to walk over to her. Though they'd shared a few hugs, Elijah could recognize a huge bridge between them. Whether it was because of the years they spend apart, or because he was a vampire, he didn't know. But there was, indeed, a barrier, and there wasn't anything he could do about it. Yet.
"I like to think they're in a better place," he finally spoke up, his voice quiet. "They don't have to live through this madness. I like to think they're free, and finally happy."
He was damned, though. Forced to walk the earth for eternity, unless he was killed. And even then, there was no mercy for his crimes against living creatures. Elijah had been doomed the minute he became a vampire, but he took solace in knowing his family was still out there, content and free, away from all the madness.
(I'm so sorry it took me this long to answer D: I feel terrible about not answering sooner)
She nodded slowly at his words, finding herself clinging to that new idea that her family was finally safe and happy, "I hope you're right. that they're doing much better wherever they are now than what's going on around here."
Elyse still didn't look back at him, watching the meat cook until she figured it was done. Then, like they hadn't just been talking about things that made her want to cry, she went about putting the meat onto a plate, along with some of the fruit Elijah had found. She still looked as put together, besides the fact that she was hungry and itching to get outside. As soon as she finished eating, she decided going outside was what she would do next.
"Are you sure you don't want anything?" She asked, looking over at her friend as she finished putting everything on a plate. Now she just had to find the silverware.
(It's totally okay! Don't feel pressured about not responding quickly. These days, even I'm a late responder.)
Elijah shook his head, deciding to drop the topic about their dead friends. When he noticed her move about the kitchen, he realized she was looking for silverware. He didn't own much, just a few utensils and plates, given how he was the only one that stayed there, and he didn't really need human food.
"Utensils are in the drawer to your left," he finally replied, moving away from the wall to walk back into the living room. "And no, Elyse. I don't need anything. Human food gives me no sustenance."
"I never said you needed anything, I asked if you wanted any," She corrected, a hint of a smile twitching at her lips, "You don't need regular food, but you can still eat it, can't you?"
With his help, she found the utensils and soon was following him into the living room with her plate and silverware carefully held in her hand. The last thing she wanted to do was spill anything or make a mess. Even if she knew that Elijah wouldn't be terribly mad. He had only extremely mad a few times that she knew of when they were younger, and unless things had changed, spilling wouldn't get him to that point of anger.
“I can,” Elijah nodded in response, sitting back down on the couch and closing his eyes. He took a deep breath and drummed his fingers on its back. “But I don’t want any. Human food doesn’t taste the same, and I’m full.”
They still had to breach the topic of Lilith, and Elijah didn’t really want to talk about her. Not yet, anyway. Maybe after she’d finish her food.
Elyse nodded, letting her silence become her reply as she started to eat. It was by far the best (and most) food she had access to in a long time, meaning it took almost all of her self control not to scarf it down in minutes. She instead tried to eat slowly, reminding herself that this could be her only meal for who knew how long, even if she doubted the accuracy of the thought herself.
Even as she tried her hardest to eat slowly, it didn't take ten minutes before her plate was empty. She set her utensils on the plate slowly, turning to her friend with enough new questions to last her a while. At least eating in silence let her think. "So, where are we exactly? Are we close to Lilith's base, or in the middle of nowhere?"
Elijah watched her eat and wondered how long she’d been starving for. She ate like she hadn’t had meat in years, and then realized maybe she hadn’t. At least, not like this. Fires were difficult to control. They probably didn’t want to give away their locations. The turned vampire let himself feel a twinge of pity, then sealed it away because he knew if Elyse realized he pitied her and the others, his heart would be on a stake.
“We’re relatively close to Lilith’s base,” Elijah answered, forcing back a sigh and pursing his lips. “But she shouldn’t know I’m here. This house is the only thing I have that she’s not taken from me, and I intend to keep it that way.”
"Will she be able to tell that I'm here?" She asked, trying to guess how close to Lilith's base they were. If Elijah was the only one that knew about this place, then they easily could be close in terms of using vampire speed. Though being close enough to walk normally there was also an option. "Because if you think it's safe enough for me to go outside without giving out position away, I definitely want to."
No matter what he decided, getting outside was her first mission. And as long as she was above ground, she wanted to spend as much time as she could outside, soaking up the fresh air and much-needed sunlight Elyse watched him silently, thankfully pulling her focus off wanting to eat more.
Elijah pursed his lips, thinking of an answer. “Lilith won’t know you’re here unless she sends a scout. Your scent is hidden by mine, as well as certain other things, so unless you’re seen by the scout, you would be fine.”
Elijah didn’t want her to go outside. He didn’t like the thought of her being unprotected and seen by his enemies. But she would not listen to him at all, she was stubborn, and that was a disadvantage that he was left with. He didn’t want to lie to her, either, knowing she’d hate him even more. And when Elyse was angry, the object of her frustrations ceased to exist.
