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no one's ever stuck with 
me this long before

──● dory
FINDING NEMO

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Elijah Morrigan was not a quitter. He wasn't someone who got confused easily, he didn't give up without a hell of a fight, he considered himself a half-decent friend and brother, but he was at a complete loss at the moment.

He didn't even know where to start.

The fact of the matter was that his best friend in the entire world was upset with him, and she'd lost her father. Elijah doesn't know what it's like to lose a father exactly, but he knows what it's like to lose a parent, and that shit sucked. He'd barely gotten through it, if he was being completely honest with himself, and he'd had his family behind him, and a reliable financial situation to anything.

Sage didn't have that. Not in the same way, anyway.

Her parents were divorced, her younger brother was being raised by her father, and she was being raised by her mother. Her dad worked on the police force from what Sage had told him. He wasn't sure what her mother did, but he hadn't pried about it. Mainly because Sage didn't seem to like discussing her.

Whatever, anyway -- his best friend in the entire world, one of the most important people to him was now mad at him, going through a lot, and very likely he was the last person she wanted to see.

It didn't stop him from wanting to go find her. To hold her, and comfort her, and tell her that everything would be alright because he knows it feels like it'll never be okay again. Like everything around you is collapsing, and it's all you can do but not cave in on yourself like a dying star. It's a horrible feeling, and there's this horrible urge to isolate yourself forever, and never love anyone again because it hurts so, so bad.

So when Elijah opens the door to his house as quietly as he could, he's already fighting back tears. That sick pain that hangs in the back of his throat before he's about to cry is ever-present, and he's becoming more aware of that by the minute. He doesn't want to cry. He's not going to cry. The last time he actually cried, really cried, was probably the second anniversary of his mother's death, when he visited the Morrigan Mermorial. 

It doesn't help that his little squabble of siblings are sitted in the living room beyond the foyer, drapped over the couches and talking animatedly to each other about one thing or the other. They turned in sync when he closed the door behind him, and in an instant Jady was there, surprisingly fast even with the brace on her ankle, and pulling him over to the couch to join them.

Elijah guessed he didn't have much of a choice.

"Eli! We were just talking about you!" She let go of his arm, flopping back over on the chair she'd been sitting on before she'd gotten up. 

Before Elijah could question why exactly they were talking about them, Elliot piped up, propping his elbow on the arm on the couch, setting his head on it. "Yume's got an idea over what story you might be."

What story?

Merlene sighed, flat on her back, looking up at the ceiling. "I can't say I don't agree with her theory."

"We think you're Princess and the Frog." Jasiri's arm was again interlaced with Kasumi's, who nodded in agreement.

"It does make sense."

The Princess and the Frog. That's really what they were focused on right now. Elijah resisted the irritation that swirled down his throat, swallowing the prologue of tears. 

Junpei nodded, holding a cup of steaming hot chocolate in her hands. "You and Sage, you guys' kinda have that enemies to lover's thing going on right now, right?"

Kei clicked his tongue on the roof of his mouth, calmly looking through his phone. "Not to mention you kissed and she got upset with you."

Was this actually happening? His best friend wasn't even talking to him, her father had died, and they were debating on what fucking fairytale he was playing out? 

Deep, residual fury seethed into his stomach, but Elijah bit his tongue. He didn't want to say anything he'd regret, even if that dreadful, icky anger dripped in tears of venom through his veins. 

Akiho pulled his knees to his chest, back against the couch where he was sitting on the floor. "And you said something happened to her father, right?"

Kasumi nodded slowly, "And in the movie, Tiana loses her father too."

Elijah buried his nails into his palms, hands clenching into his fists, but he said nothing, knowing better than to open his mouth and let that poison spit at them. It had been a rhetorical question anyway. Akiho hardly asked questions he didn't already know the answer too. 

Reysa glanced up, blowing on Delaney's nails. The design was stark silver, glittering with white snowflakes, and a statement nail on the middle of twin white antlers. "Okay, but we're sure it's Princess and the Frog? What about Anna?"

Delaney tilted her head, "Like from Frozen?"

"Mhm, because Kristoff and Anna were kinda enemies to lovers too, right?"

"Well yeah, but Elijah wasn't in love with someone else before Sage." Jasiri countered.

Reysa huffed petulantly, switching to a clear kind of polish. "Who said that Elijah was representing Anna? How do we know Sage wasn't in love with someone before?"

Her companion seemed to consider that, Delaney offering another irritating piece of evidence about Elijahs' love life. "Also, Anna loses her parents too."

Yume waved the argument off "Sure, but I think Kristoff and Anna were a little more friends to lovers, plus they never really kissed before the frozen heart thing." She rocked back onto her feet, pushing off from where she'd been leaning against the wall, turning to Elijah "What do you think?"

Elijah was quiet for a period of time, still reeling from the fact this his siblings were not concerned that his best friend's dad was dead, and more about the fact that they had to decide between two fucking Disney movies that his love life was centered on. "What do I think?" He could feel the rise of the poison in his mouth, that pain in the back of his throat quick to return.

His sibling's faces faltered, but Yume didn't seem deterred, smiling as if she'd never had a better idea in her life. "Yeah! Between Princess and the Frog and Anna from Frozen. See I think Princess and the Frog just matches better, because of the whole kiss thing-"

"Yume." His voice was low, a warning that continuing this conversation would likely lead to saying something he very likely would regret.

She didn't seem to heed to it. "- not to mention, you're much more like Naveen than a Kristoff in my opinion, not that that's a bad thing. He's just very charasmatic and smooth-talking and Kristoff is just a little more awkard."

"Yume-"

"He's cute though, and Sage reminds me of Tiana a little bit more. Tiana is a romantic too, but she's not really looking for love like Anna is, and I'm sure you would have known if Sage had a crush on someone else, you are her best friend after all-"

"Yume!" Elijah's voice was sharp, snapping to his older sister, "I don't care, okay?! I don't care!" Elijah's words echoed over the foyer, bouncing against the stairs of the hollow estate. Yume had snaped her mouth shut, staring at him with widened eyes as that sickening pain in his throat almost erupted. "I don't care about whatever fucking story you think my love life is! I care about Sage! She lost her father, and it doesn't matter what princess she's supposed to be because she is my best friend first!" Panic strangled his words, but it was much too late to stall them now, anxiety tearing through his mouth. "All I want to do is get her back, I don't care about what you all think is more important -- Sage is important to me, and hell, I'm supposed to be there for her because her father is dead and none of you seem overly concerned with that fact." Again, he paused to swallow the growing lump in his throat, refusing to cry as he ran a trembling hand through his hair. "I don't care about whatever Disney movie I'm supposed to be, I need your help- but God, not like this." He motioned to them sitting around the couch, feeling the eyes of each and every sibling trained on him. "I just-" He felt breathless, unable to suck in the oxygen needed to speak. "I need - I need your help-"

"Elijah." Yume's voice was soft suddenly, placing a gentle, hesitant hand on his arm. Elijah fell quiet obediantly, looking to her in desperation for an answer. She just squeezed his arm, nodding "Okay." Her shoulders straightened, and she spoke more firmly. "Yes, of course we'll help you Elijah." Silence had settled over the room, siblings' eyes darting between Yume and Elijah before Yume spoke again, adding in her softest voice, "I'm sorry. You're right. This shouldn't be about figuring out what story you might be right now, it should be about Sage."

Elijah felt himself nod, a slow, sweeping thing, still trying hard to fight against his blurring vision. He echoed her tone, soft, and a little horse. "Okay."

For a long moment then Yume stared at him, then tugged him closer, wrapping her arms around him in a hug. She was warm, and Elijah felt that horrible pain again creep up his throat. Elijah wasn't much of a touch person, but when he'd been younger, when he was shorter than Yume, and especially after the death of his mother, sometimes she would hug him like something precious. Like something she loved so desperately. Slowly, Elijah lifted his arms back around her in an embrace, desperately trying not to break into tears as Yume spoke in that same soft, warm manner. "Everything's going to be okay, Elijah." There was a short pause, lulling into the quiet. "I promise."

----------

That following day, Elijah was standing before the door of Sage's Father's house. It was a small townhome, narrowly shoved in between two buildings. He wasn't exactly sure where she'd be, but based off of the information he'd been able to gather by calling more than a few people, his funeral had been held this morning, and there was still a gathering of mourners after the service had taken place. 

Behind him, all eleven of his siblings we're waiting, holding gifts in their hands of food, clothes, and anything else they could manage to offer to the family as they were going through this process. Yume, who was just peaking over his shoulder, poked him in the side, motioning him to knock on the door, and actually get the whole thing over with.

Elijah steeled himself, irritated by the fact that nerves had strung up his body like puppet strings. He raised his hand to the door briefly, and knocked.

It only took a moment for the door to swing open. Not to reveal Sage at all, but rather her younger brother, Ward Fallon. He regarded them as a group for a moment, adjusting his position by manuvering the wheels at his side before glancing up at them again. He didn't have the chance to speak before a very familiar voice came around the corner, standing behind him, pausing at the door behind Ward.

"Well, what are ya doin' here?" Cara's head tilted at the group, eyes narrowing towards Elijah.

Elijah, both relieved and disappointed, quickly recovered from the surprise, hesitating briefly before he spoke. "I, well, I'm here to see Sage. I just have something I want to say to her. I won't bother her for long, and I'll leave as soon as she asks me too."

Cara's gaze flickered, but her features remained calm. "She's not here, you're outta luck, sorry." She shrugged, clearly not seeming that sorry at all.

Ward however rolled his eyes, crossing his arms over his chest. "She's at dad's grave."

"Ward!"

"What?" He spun on his wheels, turning to face Cara instead, glaring back up at her. "I like Elijah, he taught me how to pitch and everything!"

Cara's gaze flickered between them, before looking back at Ward. "How to pitch?"

"For baseball, because I didn't really want to try out for the team because of the whole...you know.." he motioned towards his wheelchair, leaning back into it. "Not that I'm embarrassed of it, but some kids are mean, and, well, maybe I didn't want to embarrass myself. Not that it would have mattered anyway, I don't think we'd have been able to afford it."

Cara seemed to have been rendered silent, looking up at Elijah slowly. She seemed to back off the argument, but her eyes remained narrowed. "If you hurt her again.." she left the threat unfinished, looking back to the interior of the townhouse as her name was called. After another mildly threatening glance towards both him and Ward, she hurried off further inside.

Elijah felt the gaze of his siblings burn into his back, but he managed to ignore it as best as he could, looking at Ward as he turned back to face him. "Thanks Ward. I owe you one."

"How about a new bat?"

"Deal" Elijah reached over, ruffling Ward's hair before Ward rolled his eyes, writing down the location his father had been buried, handing over a piece of paper before looking to Elijah's siblings. He rolled back into the house, motioning inside. "Well you don't have to stand there, you can come in if you want."

Elijah watched his siblings share a few glances, silent conversation humming through only their eyes before Yume nodded, stepping forward "We'd love to come in Ward, thank you." She nodded her respect to him, something she often did when meeting new people and trailed inside after Ward. Following her was each of his siblings, wishing Elijah luck or scolding him about not fucking it up worse.

It didn't take long for them to all be swallowed up into the house, the door shutting behind them, leaving Elijah by himself standing out in the cold. It wasn't horrible at the least. The sun was shining down the roofs, the occassional icicle dropping from high up and crashing into the ground.

The cemetery that Ward had scribbled out wasn't far, and it took a short drive before Elijah was able to locate it, parking his car before stepping out into the brisk chill that rolled through the earth. The cemetery looked mainly empty, tombstones cracked, but clean at the least, discarded flowers, both old and new, wilting away in the cold. The archway was of thin metal, dead vines curled around the laced creation. It'd be prettier in the spring, but for now, the metal ached in the cold wind that ran through his blood.

The walk on the path was short. Elijah spotted a few people here and there, mostly in groups of two or three looking over the graves, but there was one person standing by herself. She was clutching her bare arms, red with the bitter wind as she stared at the grave in front of her. Her red curls were matted from the wind, black dress spinning in the bursts of breeze that filtered through the thick grasses around them. He'd only stopped a few feet from her by the time she looked up.

Elijah's heart dropped into his chest, shattering into a sparkling mass of devastation as Sage looked at him, and began to cry. 

✦

✦ OPHELIA ✦

- I love elijah - idc, he calls himself
a narccissist, but we all know deep
down he really cares about other 
people - idc I love him

- i hope they make up-
oh wait- wait i'm the
author

- you know sometimes
i actually do forget that
i have full control of the
story, but it doesn't
always feel like that

- anygay <3

- ty for your patience for
this chapter my darlings

your character's opinions on elijage [elijah + sage] ?

──● answers