You're Timeless To Me ((Jack Wheelan)) [PG-13: L, S]

"This isn't funny!  Of all the times to lose important stuff, it had to be now?!  Which of you are in charge of finding lost stuff?  Please tell me there's a fucking Roman Saint Anthony!"

Angrily, Elijah stared up at the ceiling of his room in the Principia.  He was pretty sure that he didn't have to look up for the Gods to hear him, but it seemed appropriate.  It was how it always went in the movies and TV shows.  The whole Saint Anthony thing was something he remembered from Jody.  Although she had converted to Judaism, she had grown up Catholic and always said to pray to Saint Anthony when you lost something.  Only it had become in jest when she said it, especially around Elijah's father.  The object that the boy had misplaced was a small cardboard box tied with a thin red ribbon bow.  The box contained Jack's birthday gift, and although Jack's birthday wasn't until the next day, the son of Venus would be over shortly to celebrate.  Sort of like starting the celebrations a little early...like a birthday eve.  The two could relax, have sex, relax more, lay around...the son of Discordia wasn't even planning on going into the main room of the Principia to work the next day.  He just wanted to spend the day with his boyfriend...give him a nice birthday.  Although the boy figured they would spend most of it inside...despite the fact that Montauk wasn't nearly as cold as Bridgewater, Elijah was a wimp in the cold.  It was probably one of those things that came with being all skin and bones.

Letting out a soft huff of frustration, Elijah looked around his room again.  "Saint Anthony, Saint Anthony," he mumbled, rolling his eyes.  The box wasn't in any of his drawers...dresser, desk, beside table...he had checked a million times.  But he figured it had to be in one of them, because he had to hide it from Jack.  The faun he had enlisted to go to the mortal world and find the gift had come back earlier than expected, and since Jack spent most nights in his boyfriend's room, the small boy had needed to hide it.  Which meant it had to be in a drawer.  Probably not the bedside table drawer, though, because that was where they kept condoms and all.  Going back to his dresser, Elijah started going through the drawers again.  The way he saw it, not finding the gift meant he was kind of screwed.  He couldn't bake a cake like Jack could...he had smuggled a couple cupcakes from the dining hall, but that didn't really count.  All Elijah had was that damn gift.  There weren't exactly a ton of places the box could be, which was leading to even more frustration.  Elijah definitely felt like an idiot losing that thing.  Forget Saint Anthony, the boy needed a full blown miracle.  Shutting his top drawer loudly, the boy stormed back to his desk, angrily pushing his messenger bag off the top of it.

The open messenger bag fell, its contents falling on the floor.  Amidst the notebooks and pens, a small cardboard box with a simple red ribbon bow fell out.  Elijah's eyes zeroed in on it, his mouth dropping slightly.  "What on earth..." gathering everything off the floor, the boy dumped it on his desk.  He placed the box safely on one of his pillows, sitting heavily on his bed with a soft sigh.  It was a total relief to find Jack's gift...the boy couldn't remember putting it in his bag, but he had found it, and that was the important part.  Looking at the box on his pillow, Elijah narrowed his eyes at it.  "Don't you dare," he said to the box.  "If you even think about...growing legs or something...don't," it was completely ridiculous to be scolding an inanimate object, but the small boy never claimed to be a reasonable, logical person.  And talking to the box meant Elijah wouldn't forget it as easily.

But it was okay to have it out in the open now.  Jack would be there soon, and Elijah would just get to give it to him.  The messenger bag, though!  For the life of him, Elijah couldn't remember putting it there.  Bouncing impatiently on his bed, the boy stood up, glancing at his clock.  It was quarter of eight, around the time Jack had said he'd be there.  Though the birthday boy wasn't always great with time...not in the way his boyfriend was.  Years of lack of control and slight OCD had resulted in an obsession with time.  Keeping it, staying on top of things, being obsessively early everywhere.  Jack was much more lax about it all.  Sometimes it drove Elijah insane, but he wasn't going to let it bother him right now.  Because tonight and tomorrow were all about celebrating Jack.  And even though twenty-one meant nothing at camp, it was such an adult marker in the real world.  Last of the big birthdays until 40 or 50 or whatever.  Elijah didn't really know.  It didn't really matter, though sometimes the boy felt like that high schooler dating a college kid.

Bouncing over to his door, Elijah opened it, looking down the long hallway from his room.  Jack wasn't there yet...then again, the boy supposed he would have heard him coming in.  The son of Discordia had secretly given the Principia key to his boyfriend so he could lock up after letting himself in.  The Principia doors were big and heavy...and they made a lot of noise.  Despite knowing all this, Elijah still looked down the dimly lit hall another moment, hoping Jack would come around the corner.  With a soft sigh, the boy resigned himself to the fact that he had to wait just a little bit longer.  It wasn't like Jack was avoiding the whole thing...he was fine with birthdays, unlike Elijah.  Thought twenty-one did seem kind of daunting to the small boy.  Shutting his bedroom door, the boy crossed his arms grumpily.  It seemed silly that he was this impatient for someone else's birthday.  But everything was all ready, with Jack's gift on the pillow and the vegan cupcakes on his bedside table, a purple candle stuck in one of them and a pack of matches beside them.  It didn't feel like much, though Elijah knew Jack would appreciate and love all of it anyway.

Jack moved in front of the mirror again and scrunched up his nose. Definitely not. The shirt was way too informal for the occasion, and it looked absolutely awful with black jeans. He yanked it over his head and tossed it into the little closet space he owned. The pile of rejected shirts (and pants) was growing larger by the minute. It didn’t matter that it was only Elijah and that the two of them were staying in all night. The son of Venus still wanted to look good for his birthday. He tugged a button-down shirt from a hanger and threw it over his shoulders. He didn’t even bother to fasten the buttons. He just held the two pieces of fabric together as he scrutinized himself in the mirror yet again. Why did every shirt have to be so wrong? It wasn’t like he owned a lot of clothing or had a lot of options, yet nothing seemed quite right. He squinted at his reflection as he tried to figure out what it was. Maybe it was his eyes. Maybe he needed a little eyeliner to pull everything together. He sighed as he stepped away from the mirror. Yeah, right. Eyeliner was Elijah’s thing. The son of Discordia could pull it off a lot better than Jack could. Besides, it wasn’t like Jack even knew how to properly apply eyeliner. With his luck, he’d end up poking an eye out. How his boyfriend managed to run that little pencil or brush around his eyes without hurting himself was still a mystery to the son of Venus.

He pulled off the latest shirt and added it to the pile of discarded items before reaching up for a new shirt. But…there was nothing left on his hangers. He had already gone through every shirt he owned. There was nothing new left to try. He silently cursed as he turned his eyes down to the pile on the floor of his closet. These were the days he longed for all the things he had left behind in Oklahoma. When he came to New York with Lupa, he had little more than the clothes on his back. He had managed to gather a few other things from his siblings, and he was quite certain his mother had supplied a few shirts specifically for him. Despite all of that, he still wished there were a few more things in his closet. It was a travesty for a child of Venus to have less than a dozen shirts and only four pairs of pants! Looking skyward, he sent up a quick prayer to his mother. It was probably rude or improper to ask for new clothes for a date, but that wasn’t going to stop him. Jack stared at the ceiling for a few seconds longer before giving up. Venus was probably too busy to listen to his stupid request anyway.

Going back to the pile on the floor, Jack dug through it in search of a semi-okay shirt. It shouldn’t have come as any surprise that he withdrew the first shirt he had tried. The red and black flannel was far from fancy, but the son of Venus was pretty sure Elijah loved it. He hoped Elijah loved it, at least. He slipped it over his shoulders and buttoned it up before moving in front of the mirror once again. If he trimmed his beard a little, the shirt would be fine, but the jeans were still wrong. Jack wiggled out of them before pulling a pair of plain old blue jeans from the pile. It didn’t get much simpler than blue jeans and flannel, but it was the best that the son of Venus could do. Then again, it probably didn’t matter too much what he wore at all. With the type of birthday history that the two boys had, clothes weren’t likely to stay on for very long. Shaking his head, Jack buttoned his pants and grabbed his razor before disappearing into the bathroom to clean up a bit. Finally content with his appearance (more or less), he closed the closet door to hide the mess, slipped on his leather jacket, and headed out of the barrack.

As he walked across the grounds, he fingered the keys in his pocket. Elijah had slipped them to him earlier in the day, so he could let himself in and lock up once he arrived. Neither of them really wanted to be bothered once they were together. Jack hoped Calix would either be gone or in his own room when he got there. He had no reason to dislike the other Praetor or for the Praetor to dislike him, but it certainly wouldn’t go over well if Calix knew Jack had Principia keys. The legacy of Bellona took a lot of pride in his work. He would probably see it as a serious breach of security if he found out someone other than a Praetor had keys to the Principia. Jack climbed the steps and slowly shoved the heavy doors open. He stuck his head in to peek around the main room before fully entering. Thank the gods, the room was empty and dark. Unless someone enjoyed sitting in the pitch black, the son of Venus was alone. He pushed the door further to allow himself through, and stepped into the Principia. He did his best to close it quietly behind him, but it was nearly impossible. The echoing slam was sure to reach all the way down to Elijah’s room.

Jack quickly stuck the keys in the lock and secured the door before shuffling through the main room to the hallway. He loved nights, but he had awful night vision. He had to be careful not to trip over anything or run into anything unexpected. Thankfully, he made it to the lit hallway without incident, and he happily loped his way over to Elijah’s door. Jack knew he didn’t need to knock by now, but he did anyway. It just felt like the right thing to do. A grin spread across his face as he bounced slightly on the balls of his feet, waiting for Elijah to answer the door.

All this waiting made Elijah impatient...he was really bad when it came to being patient in a situation like this.  Briefly, the boy wondered if he should just go hunt his boyfriend down.  But that would be wrong...Jack would be there in his own time.  Sitting on the edge of his bed, Elijah looked over at the box on his pillow.  He wanted Jack to get there so they could celebrate.  Not that they didn't have plenty of time or anything.  The boy just had to calm down a bit...chaotic and high strung was second nature for the son of Discordia, but they were also things he needed to work on.  Now was not the time.  Swinging his legs, which hovered above the ground by an inch or two, the small boy let out a deep breath.  This was totally unfair.  Elijah let out a deep breath.  "Relax, Elijah," the boy mumbled to himself.  Being impatient was just going to make things worse.  It was time to just breath, and try to get over this.  Shutting his eyes, the boy convinced himself to take some of those deep breaths.  Images of Jack swam before his eyes, which definitely helped calm the small boy down.  The more he thought about Jack, the more the son of Discordia relaxed...and it was a reminder that the other boy would be there shortly.  It was just a matter of breathing, not torturing himself with counting the time.

Falling backwards onto his bed, Elijah opened his eyes.  He looked around, noticing a bloodstain mostly hidden by his bed frame...a vestige of the time he and Jack had been apart and the boy had taken to punching walls.  Seeing the bloodstain made him cross...he was so sure he had painted over all the bloodstains.  Luckily, he still had the can of white paint in his room, sitting in a corner with a paintbrush.  Elijah would have to remember to take care of that little spot he had missed...but not now.  The last thing he and Jack needed would be celebrating with paint fumes pervading the air.  Getting up with a sigh, Elijah sorted through his notebooks, finding the right one for reminding himself to paint over the last of the blood smears.  He scribbled a quick note to himself about doing so, and shut the notebook with a overly dramatic huff.  There were the little things to keep Elijah's mind going while waiting for Jack...for a child of the Goddess of chaos, Elijah had to order things in his own way...which was definitely quite chaotically.  But everything he did was to help himself not go insane.  It would be far too easy to lose himself, and go insane otherwise.  His boyfriend helped a good deal, too.  In so many respects, the boy was ridiculously lucky.  And it was insane to think of where he had been just a few short years ago.

Shooting up in his desk chair, Elijah looked around.  He had definitely heard a noise from outside...and he was pretty damn sure it was the Principia doors.  "Jack!" he exclaimed excitedly.  Listening in silence, the boy was pretty sure he heard the dangling of heavy keys, a sure sign that the doors were being locked.  Unless Calix was coming in, which Elijah was pretty sure he was in already.  Besides, Calix had more practice than to get so loud with the doors of the Principia...he and Elijah both knew how to make as little noise as possible.  But they were really the only ones that did.  Loud slams and loud keys had to mean Jack was coming in.  Making sure the box with Jack's gift was still on the pillow and a quick glance in the mirror to make sure he looked okay, Elijah stood.  The boy smoothed out some wrinkles from his shirt, bouncing slightly in anticipation.  Then he heard the knock on his door.  At this point, Elijah knew what his boyfriend's knock sounded like, though he hadn't heard it in awhile.  The son of Venus so rarely knocked anymore.  Rolling his eyes, the son of Discordia let out a soft chuckle, grinning widely.

"Jack!" he cried when he opened the door, eyes landing excitedly on his boyfriend.  Elijah pulled him down by the collar, kissing him.  "Happy birthday, baby," he grinned, a sparkle in his eyes as he pulled Jack in and shut the door with his foot.  Hopefully he didn't sound too eager, though that line was always a fine one when it came to situations like this.  Could any celebration be too eager?  Well, if it was a matter of the Praetor's birthday, he wasn't too happy about that celebration.  Luckily the two's anniversary was on the same day...that was a much better celebration than a birthday, at least in the son of Discordia's opinion.  But that wasn't today...today was all about Jack.  Well, tonight and the next day.  Thinking about other stuff was just silly.  Not on a day like today.  "And give me my keys," Elijah added with a chuckle.  "I'd be in big trouble if I forgot those," grinning, the boy pulled his boyfriend down for another kiss.  "I love you...and we're going to have a great birthday celebration," he smiled, not wanting to be any place but here.  Hopefully Jack was just as ready.