[ti]Closed[/ti]Dusk Till Dawn ‖ Elias

Elias was in the back alley removing their shipments from the truck. For about a year now, he'd been doing this. This mundane job of bartending, kicking people out, and stocking shelves. He didn't mind. He sort of liked the mundane. Being a hailed as a hero for something he never intended to do wasn't something he liked to think about. He only wanted to save the child. But it had gotten away from him. Everything had. But it was all over now. Now, he could relax and live a normal life.

He was in the back of the truck when he heard Lia yell his name. He ran quickly, but his foot caught on a rope and tripped him, causing him to knock over boxes. His hands worked furiously to get his foot free, then one by on, in frantic movements, he moved the boxes out of his way. Eli jumped off the truck and ran for the backdoor.

When he opened it, he found Lia on top of the counter. Eli ran to her, seeing the blood on her hands, then looked around. "Lia, what the hell happened?" He asked, not seeing anyone but the two of them. Working in a bar wasn't the safest job with all the drunks around, but that's why Eli was hired. He was supposed to get rid of the drunks that tried to cause trouble and help Lia, but he wasn't here. Instead he was stumbling around in that F*ucking truck like an idiot. He was pissed at himself for not being here.

"Are you okay?" Eli pulled her hand roughly towards him so he could take a look at it. He didn't mean to pull her hand so hard, but he was angry. Not at her, at himself. 

WC: 303
TAG: Jezelia Lennox

Eli's brows raised, "you did all that huh?" He shook his head. Lia was already working at the bar by the time he was hired. At first he thought he'd have his hands full with babysitting a woman. But she proved to be tougher than she looked. Of course, his brute strength always got the drunks out. But Lia could stand up for herself. She reminded him of his mother, he didn't like that too much. His mother was opinionated and headstrong, it was no wonder they butted heads so much.

He crossed his arms when she slapped his hands away, and watched her. Eli sighed, shaking his head. A bartender who drinks on the job, really, who would have thought? He took the drink from her and set it on the bar far from her reach. Then forcefully took her bleeding hand. "Stop talking," he said and examined her hand, "there's pieces of broken glass. Don't move." Eli took out the blade from his pocket and carefully dug into her skin just deep enough to slide the pieces of glass out.

"Then don't do my job, otherwise you'll get something worse than a few cuts and glass in your hand," he wiped the blade on his jeans and tucked it back into his pocket, then took out a piece of cloth. He wasn't the softest or most gentle person. His hands were covered in callouses and he always underestimated his strength. He'd been called so many things, like monster. But one thing he prided himself in that didn't involve hurting others, was his skill in patching people up.

"This is gonna sting," he spilled some of the alcohol onto her hand, then covered it up with the cloth, tying it at the ends.

He held her hand as gently as he could then looked at her and sighed again. She was drunk and in no shape to be going home alone. "Come on, I'll walk you home." Eli didn't wait for her permission before picking her up from the counter.

WC: 330
TAG: Jezelia Lennox

"Sure, but you've also never gotten hurt before. What if the guy didn't want to leave? What if it was more than one guy?" the possibilities of the things that could have happened and gone wrong was in his mind. He was a guy and he knew how guys acted. What's more, he himself was one of the worst kinds of men. So he knew how bad things could get. He pushed away the memories before they could get a chance to get out the door. Years of working as a mercenary was still with him, none of that would ever leave him. Lia's hand might have blood now, but Elias was drenched in it. And he could never wash himself clean. Ever.

He wasn't surprised when she pulled out a flask, but he did try to not laugh. But he couldn't hide the smirk that appeared on his face. She was the most ridiculous person he'd ever met. But she was also the most infuriating, next to his family. He followed her to the couch and crossed his arms. "Why can't you just do what you're told for once?" he asked. He was irritated by her, she was just so damn stubborn. Then he realized what he was doing. He was acting like his father. In fact, he had said the same thing to Lia just now that his own father asked him all those years ago. He let out a breath, "Fine. Drink your alcohol." He gave up, she was just as stubborn as him when he was younger. There would be no talking her out of anything. 

"Are you sleeping here tonight? Because I'd like to go home."

Home. It was the first time he could actually say that. As a mercenary, he never had a home. They slept on cots, hay, whatever was lying around. Sometimes nothing, just the ground beneath their feet. Home was something he never thought he wanted until he got it.

WC: 333
TAG: Jezelia Lennox

Eli almost laughed out loud. He recalled saying the same exact thing to his father before he ran away from home forever. Lia and he are just alike. He wasn't her father or brother or anything that said he was responsible for her. But he felt a sense of duty to her. Maybe it was just because it was his job to make sure she was safe. Not directly, but more or less. He didn't get paid extra for being the bouncer, but at least the owner let him come and go as he pleased. He didn't have to serve the bar except when it was busy. Even then, Lia always had it handled. He only helped. He didn't know much about making drinks, he only knew about drinking them. So he only ever served plain ones, like straight vodka or rum or whiskey. He didn't have the flair for making mixed drinks. The only reason he got the job was because of the way he looked and his strength. Men weren't the only ones who came to bars, women came too. Many of them came for him.

He ignored her, knowing from experience that if he even tried to defend himself, she'd just retaliate. It was how he found it so easy to run away from home. They pushed and pushed and pushed until he couldn't take it anymore.

Eli sighed, looking around. He scratched the back of his head, his shirt lifting only just slightly, the cool air of the bar skimming against bare flesh. "Good, but I can't leave you here, Henry said I'm supposed to be the first one in, last one out," he crossed his arms again. "Come on, I'm sure your place is better than here. Nice bed, good food. You really can't want to stay in this..." he looked around. He didn't want to say 'dump' because it wasn't exactly that. But the bar was on the poorer side of the district, though the District was rather well off compared to the other Districts farther away from The Capitol. Besides, he'd seen worse place than this.

"Bar." He settled for the most generic word he could think of. Elias was getting tired and hungry. Not that he didn't like the food they served at the bar, but he wanted a meal that he prepared and cooked himself. And he wanted to sleep in his comfortable bed.

WC: 407
TAG: Jezelia Lennox

He watched her put on the music and make drinks. He followed her back to the booth, "it's not about trusting you. It's about whoever's out there. Someone could take you and I'm not going to take that chance. Besides, Henry would fire me."

It was late, even for him. And leaving her here to walk home alone at an even later time wasn't a good idea. He knew the dangers that lurked in the shadows. The war may be over, but there were plenty of desperate people, even in District 1. Eli walked over to the music panel and turned it off, then picked her up and carried her fireman style over one shoulder. She was light and easy to carry, though not the most accommodating.

"Watch your head," he said as he walked out the door with her. He turned and locked the door, only realizing that the drinks were still on the counter, but it didn't matter. He could clean it up tomorrow when he went in to work. Eli didn't let her down because he knew that she'd just try to fight him or run away, so instead he carried her down the street. He smiled and waved at the very limited number of people in the streets during this time of night. "She's just drunk," he'd tell them.

"Where do you live?" He asked once they reached the end of the street. The poor side of the district was barely lit and most people were home and asleep. He'd carry her all the way home if it meant she'd get there safely.

WC: 271
TAG: Jezelia Lennox

He was looking down both sides of the street to figure out the best way to go where there was more light in order to avoid trouble when she wiggled only slightly free and kneed him in the sternum. "Dammit Lia!" he cursed, dropping her, though she didn't completely fall on the ground. Eli rubbed the middle of his chest where her knee hit him. It hurt more than he expected coming from her, but she was stronger than he gave her credit for. Still, not strong enough to fend off an attacker. 

Eli sighed and gave her another arms-crossed-scowl look that he figured probably made him look like his father, a giant muscular and hefty brute of a man. He wasn't as tall as his father, at least from what memory he had of him, but he liked to think he could look just as terrifying.

"No, we don't," he said flatly. "I don't care what you think you can do, I'm not going to leave you out here. Some woman was just raped two days ago in this part of the district, or have you forgotten?" The incident had reached the entire district, but it wasn't at all uncommon for the poorer side of it. The only reason that it had been a big news to everyone was because she was a wealthy woman who had somehow ended up on the wrong side of town. There had also been murders, most likely due to muggings gone wrong. Although District 1 was better off than many other districts, there were still greedy and desperate people. Not to mention orphaned children who really had nowhere to go. Every place had a ghetto, even the richer ones. And Eli didn't want to think about the things he'd seen during his time as a mercenary. One particular event stuck inside his mind, but he liked to keep that memory sealed up in a vault so deep inside his mind that one could assume it doesn't actually exist, except when it creeps up in his nightmares.

He wanted to take the cigarette from her hand and stomp on it, but he had no right to do that. Though nothing had ever stopped him from crossing lines before. Instead he said, "you know that stuff will kill you."

He ignored her first statement, knowing full well that anything that happened between them now when she was drunk would be a huge mistake. She'd probably end up ignoring him afterwards and treating it like a business arrangement. He didn't have it in him to have his heart broken, not by her.

Her second statement made her laugh. Really laugh. The kind of laugh that's unexpected and difficult to stop, the kind of laugh that comes from the stomach. "Are you serious?" he asked finally able to take a breath before laughing again. "Revirginize? Sweetheart, I don't think it works like that." Eli wiped a tear from the corner of his eye and tried to stop laughing.

WC: 502
TAG: Jezelia Lennox

Eli seemed to have angered her more, which wasn't intentional, but he could see he wasn't going to get anywhere with her. They were too similar in that aspect, but he knew from experience that the right thing to do was not argue. He wondered if his parents stopped arguing with him, if things would be different. If he would never have run away. Eli only shrugged. "Fine."

He let her walk away, counted to five, and then began walking. He matched her pace, keeping the same five second distance between them. Eli wasn't going to give in, though he'd give her what she wanted. Partially, at least. He probably couldn't follow her all night, but he could try. At least to make sure she got to where she needed to go. It wasn't just that he felt a sense of responsibility, but also because he felt a sense of guilt. He'd let his guard down before, he'd allowed others to do as they wished, and it had ended badly for them. He wasn't going to make that same mistake. Eli might have been a mercenary, he might have killed more people than he could count, but ever since that night...

Eli was lost in thought and didn't see a figure approaching Lia from the front. He snapped out of it in time and ran up, towards them. The figure wore a hood and stopped beside her, as if about to speak, but then turned to him.

"Eli!" a small voice spoke from beneath the hood before running towards him.

WC: 261
TAG: Jezelia Lennox

Eli walked quickly towards the figure, "Emilia." He pulled the hood off her and took her under the lamp light. Lia yelled at him, catching him by surprise. He sighed and shook his head. "Fine, go." He couldn't stop the anger in his voice. She was stubborn and he wouldn't have let her out of his sight, but this changed it.

He turned to the girl in front of him, dressed in a hood and black pants like a street thug. He leaned down, his hands grabbing her by the shoulders.

"What are you doing here? I told you not to come here." The panic in his voice was evident. He took a breath and tried to calm down, but between Lia giving him a hard time and Emilia being here, it was difficult. How many times had he told her to stay inside? To not leave the house? He knew he should have just gone home.

Emilia looked down at her shoes, then up at Eli. "You didn't come home when you were supposed to. I gave it 30 minutes, I did! I was worried something was wrong, I thought they--"

"Enough," he said harshly. Then took another breath to calm down, "I was just making sure L-- my friend got home safe."

Emilia looked at Lia again and then at Eli, her brows raising before scrunching together. Her eight year old face made an expression he'd never seen before, something like suspicion.

WC: 245
TAG: Jezelia Lennox

Eli was surprised when Lia started talking to Emilia. He thought she'd take this opportunity to run to the nearest bar now that she would be free of him. Emilia looked up at Lia and then at Eli, wondering if she should say something. Eli nodded down at her in encouragement, "it's okay." But Emilia only looked down at her shoes. Eli looked up at Lia, "she's a little wary of strangers." It wasn't an excuse, it was just a fact. And it was a good thing. Emilia knew the dangers that came with strangers. It was something that Eli never had to teach her, which was unfortunate because she had to be taught in the most horrible way possible. Emilia held his hand tighter, as if she too was thinking of the same exact thing.

When Lia spoke again, Emilia raised her brows in wonderment. She couldn't believe that another person was talking to her, a grown up person. And she was talking nicely from the sound of it, though she had no idea what the other part meant.

Eli shook his head, a small smile creeping up. He looked down the street. There was a bar just at corner, Lia could easily go there if she wanted. "We have to go," he said in almost a questioning tone. He wanted to get Emilia back home, but the look on Emilia's face priceless. It made him feel warm to see her face light up like that from something as small as a person talking to her. And she wasn't running away.

Eli took a few steps forward past Lia and then stopped, turning back to her. "I'm sure your house is on the way, if you wanted to walk with us," he said the words before he even had a chance to realize what he was saying.

WC: 312
TAG: Jezelia Lennox