In Over Your Head ((Cheri Trivellato)) [PG-13]

Since paperwork and filing was usually something Elijah and Calix split, the boy had never found it too tedious. There was always a decent amount, yes, but having someone next to you, exchanging words from time to time, even just as a presence, made it all a lot easier and go much quicker. Calix didn't have a presence anymore...not as a human, and certainly not in the main room of the Principia. It was getting to the point where Elijah was going to have to have a serious talk with his friend and fellow Praetor. If there was anything left but a shell. Of course, the boy wasn't exactly good about being gentle...so how on earth could he say: Calix, I know you're hurting, but seriously, bro, you're not the only one. She's my sister...I love her too. But she'll be back...I know it, and you should trust me...so get your ass out of bed now before I have no choice but to smack some sense into you! in a nice enough way that didn't end in Fight Club: Praetor Style? Eyes focusing in and out on a paper, Elijah sighed. "Calix, amice...scio. Solum id facere non possum..." the boy stared at the paper another moment before his head hit the hard wood of the desk with a nice thunk. "Ow..." he grumbled, but didn't move for a moment. Eyes shut, Elijah took some deep breaths. "Shouldn't have let yesterday get away from you, huh, Praetor Emmanual?" the boy taunted himself. It was surprising how one day not doing paperwork could add up. In all fairness, taking off the day before hadn't been planned, and Elijah really wouldn't have had it any other way. The boy couldn't help but smile. What a strange day it had been...who would have thought his seventeenth birthday would turn into one of the most explosive days of his life. Tac showing up in the morning...the perfectly frosted vegan chocolate cake outside his door...running shouting, kissing...Jack. Jack. Spending the rest of the day curled up next to each other on the floor of Elijah's bedroom, eating vegan chocolate cake.

Calix was a shell...Elijah had been so close to becoming one as well. Funny how one day could change everything. How becoming half of a completely illogical couple and kisses and vegan chocolate cake could make everything different. The boy couldn't decide if Discordia and Venus had somehow figured out how to work together to make this possible, or if one or the other had been having some fun with the two boys, but Elijah was definitely suspicious of the Goddesses. His bet was that it was a collaboration. That was the only way it made sense to Elijah, anyway. Of course, damned if anything he thought made sense to anyone else. What did it matter, anyway? Elijah and Jack were...Elijah and Jack. Soon enough people would start finding out and start scratching their heads over the whole thing. First of all, hadn't Praetor Emmanual punched Legionnaire Wheelan a few months ago? Second of all, a son of Discordia and a son of Venus...it didn't make any sense. Chaos and strife...love and beauty...there was no way that could last too long (especially with Praetor Emmanual's temper). Snorting softly at the imagined conversations, Elijah lifted his head from the table. The silence was closing in on him. Lunchtime was approaching, and Jack had promised to rescue Elijah from the mountains of paperwork about half an hour before lunch. The son of Discordia couldn't even begin to go in to how much he hated the word about in reference to time. In all honestly, the boy was really bad about the whole 24-hour linear thing. Linear...big no-go for Elijah. He had yet to figure out if that made his habit of being obsessively early everywhere make sense or not.

Leaving all that wiggle room drove the boy insane. What did about mean, anyway? Five minutes before 11:30? Five minutes after 11:30? 11:30 on the dot? Any time between 11:20 and 11:40? It made Elijah's head spin, honestly. And it wasn't fair, because before Elijah got the chance to ask Jack what about meant, the older boy was kissing him again. And he tasted like Jack and vegan chocolate cake, and if Elijah's brain had been a car, it would have driven right off a cliff. Kissing a son of Venus regularly would probably lead to Elijah's downfall. "Ad bellissimam..." the boy snorted. That would make for an interesting conversation someday...hey, Jack...remember when my mom got your mom all tangled up in the Trojan War? Hopefully Jack was better with mythology than Latin. Another thing to do...put together a basic sheet for a real first Latin lesson for his boyfriend. Hopefully the older boy didn't expect Elijah to go easy on him just because they were dating now. Perhaps the boy was a little too serious when it came to Latin, but Jack would thank him in the long run. After all, Elijah thought with a slight smirk, the son of Venus was the one who had come to him. With a thoughtful sigh, Elijah looked at the paper in front of him. Some complaint about the new guy in the Fourth Cohort. Shouting at other Legionnaires in Italian. Apparently it was okay when Praetor Emmanual shouted in Latin, but when a Fourth Cohort Legionnaire was doing much the same...

Finally daring to check his watch, Elijah frowned. 11:23...that was about half an hour before noon, right? This was bad. Really bad. Elijah was used to running on his own time, especially after getting his driver's license and all. Jody barely left the house, let alone use her car, and the boy had turned up the manipulation thing on his dad well enough to have pretty exclusive rights to the thing. Not that it had lasted too long...Elijah had ended up at camp pretty soon after obtaining his license. The point was, Elijah believed in being early. It was just one of those things. This was absolutely unbelievable...making a mental note to figure out how Jack was about timing, the boy scribbled a quick note on the paper, pushing it to the side and grabbing the next thing on the pile. A file. A nice, thick file. The absolute best...Elijah's favorite...huzzah..."Bracchae..." the boy mumbled, tempted to smash his head against the table again. 11:24. Time was slow when you were waiting. With a deep breath, the boy opened the front of the folder...he should at least attempt to get through some of this. Before he could even glance at the front page, though, the front door opened. "Give me a second, Jack," Elijah called, shutting the folder and looking up sharply. Not even bothering to hide the frustration on his face, the boy stared at the girl who had walked into the Principia. Resisting the urge to start destroying things, Elijah forced a painful smile onto his face. Girl...possibly...Third Cohort? Calix had always made Elijah stay on top of these things, but with Calix not there..."Uh, right, sorry. Hi...uh..." nope, name not coming to him. Bad start. "Sorry, can I help you with something?"