On The Other Side ((Robyn Walsh))

It was two months since Elijah had married the love of his life, and he was still adjusting to all of it.  Sure, sleeping arrangements weren't a big deal...the two men had been pretty much "living" together for years now, so that wasn't much of a change.  He and Jack were just living as a married couple.  There were stranger things, though, like remembering to sign paperwork as Elijah Emmanual-Wheelan.  That was the son of Discordia's legal name now...signing Elijah Emmanual wouldn't make it official and valid.  Sometimes it got weird in general...Jack was no long the small man's boyfriend...or fiancé...he was his husband.  Two months after becoming Mister Elijah Emmanual-Wheelan and the man still couldn't believe it at times.  And yet...it felt so natural.  Elijah was getting more and more used to it all.  At first, he tripped up a lot, calling Jack his fiancé...even boyfriend at times.  But that rarely happened anymore.  Jack was Elijah's husband...and that was that.

Long, boring days in the Principia allowed for Elijah to go back to the most important day of his young life.  He could still remember it...all of it.  The small ceremony...easy.  Jack's vows...Elijah's own vows.  The reception...decorations in blue and silver...the Romans who came to celebrate with the new Misters Jack and Elijah Emmanual-Wheelan.  Elijah often enjoyed this nostalgia when things were slow in the Principia.  There were other memories he could revisit...those did come at times, of course.  Years spent with his best friend.  Meeting Jack.  Getting together with Jack.  Was it really possible Elijah had been at Camp Jupiter 2.0 for four and a half years now?  It had flown.  The small man had been through so much since his arrival at camp.  He never thought it would be like this.  His life here was so much different than his life in the mortal world...and Elijah loved it.

"Will this ever end?" Elijah sighed as he sorted through the paperwork in front of him.  Where was Calix?  Probably with Calla.  It was a weekend, which meant the woman was at camp.  The other Praetor was usually with his girlfriend when she was there.  She was, after all, pregnant.  And really, Elijah didn't mind.  There were some things that transcended professional positions.  Besides, the paperwork wasn't that bad, the man tried to convince himself.  Just kind of annoying.  If the son of Discordia had his way, he wouldn't be in the main room of the Principia either.  Maybe he could get River to come hang out with him.  It would be nice to have some company...and no legionnaires had come through today with problems or anything.  Elijah had to admit...the lack of those were pretty nice.  Over the years, the small man had learned a lot about being a leader...but that didn't mean his volatile nature was completely gone.

Elijah knew it was bad when he actually wished someone would come in with a problem...or a couple legionnaires with a conflict.  The longer the the man sat there, deep in paperwork, the more fidgety and bored he got.  He was pretty sure that was a natural response, though.  Did anyone actually like paperwork?  "Done," Elijah finally said to himself, pushing his pile of papers to the side.  Of course, he had to stay in the Principia, even if he wasn't doing paperwork.  There was only so much one could take before going completely insane.  The son of Discordia was reaching that point...it was time for a break.

Reaching into his messenger bag next to his seat, Elijah pulled out his journal and the nice pen River had gotten for him for his birthday a couple years ago.  He could definitely use some cathartic writing.  That was happening a lot these days.  It helped ground the man.  Things were so different in his life...the majority of it was good, but still enough to shake Elijah to the core if he didn't write it all down.  Writing helped him...it always had, but now more than ever.  Life was...well, the son of Discordia never imagined his life would be like this...and he loved it.  Somewhere in the back of his mind, Elijah heard the Principia door open.  "One moment," he said.  Of course someone came in just as he started writing.  Well, he was determined to at least finish the sentence he was writing before dealing with whoever had just walked in.