One Step Ahead ((Myka Galanis))

Paperwork.  Paperwork, paperwork, paperwork.

Paperwork was the worst part of being a Praetor.  Elijah could deal with the other stuff easy enough...legionnaire problems, conflict between legionnaires...all that and more.  But paperwork?  Paperwork was tedious and boring and dull.  It was hard enough for the man to sit still anyway.  He was a child of chaos for Gods' sake.  Sitting made him get all fidgety and on edge.  Paperwork took a lot of effort and concentration for the son of Discordia.  But he knew that was part of his job as Praetor.  Reports.  Complaints.  Updates from Centurions.  At least Jack tried to make his entertaining...though the man's husband possessed a humor that none of the other Centurions had.  And, of course, Jack and Elijah were married.  Jack knew he could take a lot more comedic liberty with things because Elijah always took any papers that came in from his husband.  Calix knew better by now.

It was mostly Jack's incoming paperwork that kept Elijah entertained during the days.  Not that it came in daily, as a lot of legionnaires were at school in New York City.  But today began holiday break, which meant just about everyone was returning to camp.  Elijah was really looking forward to seeing Mia, and all his other friends who spent most of the year in the mortal world.  The man couldn't quite concentrate on the stack of papers in front of him.  Between seeing his friends and a night out planned with Jack, the words and letters were just sort of...swimming.  Someone getting sassy in the Second Cohort.  A disagreement between someone in Third and Fourth.  The son of Discordia let out a heavy sigh.  It felt like he was going to be here, at this desk, forever.  What would Calix do if Elijah just got up and walked out?  Well...it wasn't like he had never done that before.  In fact, sometimes it was safer, given the man's temperament and all.  His friend and fellow Praetor would understand.

It helped when Elijah was able to properly get himself into the mood.  If he just...reminded himself he had a good night, it made it easier to fell into the paperwork rhythm.  Date night with Jack, he reminded himself.  Mia is home for break...I get to see Mia, he promised himself.  Little bits of motivation.  Sometimes that was the important thing.  The thing that made it all easier for Elijah.  He pushed himself.  He had to push himself.  And it worked for a bit.  The man wasn't sure exactly how long, but when he looked up, Calix was gone.  That wasn't too rare these days, with Calla being pregnant and all.  Whenever she was at camp, Calix was constantly checking on her.  Elijah didn't blame him, of course.  He would do the same if he was in that situation.  Checking in on a pregnant partner.  Of course, Calix was giving him plenty of updates, even if he and Calla didn't talk.  He could definitely rely on his friend for that one.  What was the last one?  Twenty-five weeks...ELIJAH.  My kids are bananas!

Shifting through the papers in front of him, Elijah sighed.  He didn't want to do any more...but he knew he had to get at least a little more done.  Paperwork always had a way of piling up if they didn't take care of it daily.  Elijah had yet to figure that one out...how on earth did the small amount of Romans generate this much paperwork?  With another sigh, the man's head fell on the table with a loud thunk.  He wanted to be with his best friend.  Or with his husband.  Anywhere other than the main room of the Principia.  "I'm a leader," the man mumbled under his breath, trying to concentrate on the report at the top.  "You'll have to fudge it a bit, but this will look great on resumes," this wasn't working.  It was bad when even the regular pep talks weren't helping.  Maybe it was time to give it a rest.

Pushing the stack of papers to the side, Elijah decided he had had it.  There was no point in continuing this stupid attempt to work on paperwork.  He'd go find River and spend some nice quality time with his best friend.  Pushing his glasses up his nose, the man looked up, jumping a mile when he saw someone had been silently standing in front of him.  "Myka!" his voice was a bit shaky.  It wasn't that he wasn't used to his friend's daughter wandering about on her own or anything, just that he had had no idea she had been standing there for...Gods knew how long, and he certainly hadn't been expecting to see her.  "Don't sneak up on me like that!  You'll give me a heart attack!" he sighed, leaning back.  "You're okay, right?  Mommy is okay?" if Mia wasn't, Myka would have made herself known.  The shock was more than enough, of course.  At the very least...it spiced the day up.

It was all a bit odd, having a child around camp again.  It had been over three years since Tac had been there, but Myka was even younger than he was.  Elijah didn't mind.  He actually really liked kids, and he and Jack planned to have children of their own someday, but it was still strange having someone that young around camp.  It was almost funny how the kids sometimes behaved better than the regular aged legionnaires.  Tac had had his own quirks, and so did Mia's daughter, the man supposed, but they never really caused any trouble.  Myka especially was very well behaved.  Elijah had never had any trouble with her...it made sense in some ways, as she was Mia's daughter...adopted or not, the man's friend was good with people in general.  And he trusted her to take good care of the young legacy, which included behavior and everything.  Still, it was a bit surprising to see the young child just standing there.  She didn't come this way too often...it seemed only natural for Elijah to expect the worst.

The girl's apology brought a smile to Elijah's face, even if he was trying to be a bit stern.  "It's alright, Myka," he chuckled.  "You just startled me.  It's no problem," he couldn't get angry or anything...it wasn't the type of thing to get angry at, anyway.  As long as Mia, and anyone else who might have contact with the girl, was okay, there was no harm done.  How much was there really to do around camp for a child, anyway?  Especially one as young as Myka.  He didn't know if she could read...especially at the level of all the books in the library.  And he wasn't sure if Mia allowed her daughter a weapon...though it didn't seem like too big a problem for a legacy.  Or a demigod, or any of it...the sooner she learned to fight the better, the son of Discordia supposed.  At least there was plenty to explore.  As long as the girl was safe and all.

"As long as she's alright," Elijah sighed softly.  "And everyone else is, too," he added as an afterthought.  Mia had plenty of friends at camp, which means there were plenty of people Myka interacted with.  When the man thought about it, there were a lot of people she could have come to him to with an emergency, and it was a relief that that wasn't the case.  Everyone seemed to be checking in with Calix more, which made sense, with Calla being pregnant and all.  And even though the son of Discordia didn't care too much about that, it didn't mean no one else did.  He and the woman still hated each other, and her being pregnant didn't necessarily change that much, but even he was checking in with Calix about her regularly.  After all, Elijah wasn't completely heartless.  He imagined Calla's friends did that more.  Mia was probably doing just that.

With a chuckle at Myka's question, Elijah shrugged.  "I don't know why," he admitted.  "Sometimes I just talk to myself.  It makes it easier to sort through stuff in my head," how to explain the mind of a child of chaos to a six year old?  "My brain gets kind of...cluttered.  And busy.  Sometimes when I talk to myself, it makes things make more sense," well that was a decent job...at least, the man thought it was.  As much as he liked kids, he couldn't exactly say he was the best at communicating with them.  Elijah supposed that was something that came with practice, anyway.

And maybe there was no better time than the present to start.  "You want to sit with me for a bit?" Elijah smiled at Myka, motioning to Calix's empty chair beside him.  "I could use some company.  And I think your mother would like knowing someone is keeping an eye on you," he chuckled.  Adopted or not, Mia was this girl's mother, which meant there was all types of trouble she could get into.  Maybe it was best to keep her busy anyway.  "You can tell me all about things at camp, and how you're doing," he leaned in, "...maybe tell me some secrets about mommy," he joked.  Hopefully Myka got the joking tone.  Either way, this seemed like a good course of action.  Elijah was thinking that this didn't just happen by chance...but then again, things rarely did.