Worship

"Oh, I'm not a fashion person, you know that. Apollo picks my outfits out for me, he's really into clothes and all that. But hey, I think you look great. Much better than the dresses Mum made you wear. Anything's a fucking improvement on those, Mary," he pointed out easily, gesturing her out of the dorm as he trailed out, locking the dorm up after him. He did briefly grimace to himself at how odd it felt to be without Apollo, which then made him realise the argument that might explode later on over the situation, but he swiftly forced a smile onto his face, took his sister's arm in his own, and headed down the corridor.

"...I want you to like him. Apollo, I mean. It's... important you like him, Mary," he began quietly, casting his sister a wary glance. "I'm going to be with him for the rest of my life - I know I am, it's... not even up for debate, really. So it's important my two favourite people get along, hm? I'll have a word with him, ask him to be... polite."
 
"You want me to be honest, right?" She confirmed, her eyes shooting over to her brother's with a wary smile of her own. "He's... nothing like you, to be honest. I suppose opposites attract, yeah? He's so... ah... hm, bratty? God, that sounds horrible. He seems.... privileged," she tried to express, taking h er time to not sound too rude. Letting out a nervous laugh.

"I mean, I don't mind being cool with him. He makes you happy - I mean, you want to be with him forever, that's pretty big. I want to make you happy so if he does that for you, I guess I can handle him," she reassured before nudging her brother. "Come on, I'm hungry and you got a pretty loaded boyfriend, you should get me something to eat. I've been heading around all day following you."
 
Even though he could quite clearly see his sister was doing her absolute best not to sound rude, Elijah fell silent for a good few minutes, the only sign that he had even heard Mary being the small -but noticeable- frown on his face. He had beaten up people to a pulp for saying much less about Apollo, so hearing him be described as bratty was horrendous, and as dear as Mary was to him, he couldn't help but to be filled with anger at her remark. Was Apollo bratty? Probably - but Elijah didn't want anyone to ever criticise him, even if they hit the nail on the head.

"...He's not bratty. I mean, he... he's used to getting what he wants, but that doesn't mean he's bratty, Mary. He's different to me, but that's probably a good thing, right? I'm not an angel," he smiled quietly, determined to ignore the anger he felt, knowing that if anyone ought to be exempt from it, it was his sister.

"But hey, you just met him and first impressions aren't always right, are they? Most people think I'm a jerk. Apollo thought I was a loser, I'm pretty sure he did, but now he loves me, so... hey, you have plenty of time to get to know him, and I know you'll like him loads. He's impossible to dislike. Let's just grab some coffee, maybe he can join us after class. Unless he's still pissed off at me, he can hold a grudge, so..."
 
"I'm fine with him not liking me," Mary explained after a pause, a small smile turning into a larger one. "I mean, I want him to like me but I don't need him to, you know? Oh - Oh! I would love to show you my place! Apollo is invited, of course, but it ain't anything like your dorm. It's beat-up and has a cute dog roaming around. Her name is Eva and she's a corgi mix which is pretty great," she explained, desperate to change the conversation a bit.

"So what are you majoring in?" She decided to ask, her head tilting. "I mean, you were never the best at school so I'm so proud of you for getting this far. Like hell am I going to school, too much time and money and whatnot."
 
"I was doing Music at first, you know I've always been into that, but... I'm doing Philosophy with Apollo. He convinced me, it's pretty interesting, actually. I mean, a lot of it goes over my head and it confuses me, but... it's fun," he shrugged, trying to act casual. In reality, the fact he had been convinced to drop something he had a passion for for a subject he barely understood still pissed him off, but he knew, deep down, Apollo had a perfect argument. There was little point studying a topic that kept them apart when, in reality, none of it even mattered. Because Elijah had every intention to head with Apollo to Hell when he'd finished up with his studies, there was really no point spending hours majoring in a different subject that kept him apart from him.

As interesting as studying and learning Music would have been, he knew that it was useless at the end of the day.

"I was never the best at school? I mean, I could get mad at you, but you have a point, yeah? I barely passed my exams. Had to practically beg to get into this place," he snorted, sighing in relief once reaching the on-site cafe, slipping into one of the only spare tables left in the small place. "Get what you want, Mary. I wanna treat 'ya-- god, I'd love to come and see your band play. Apollo would love that, he likes going out to clubs and stuff."
 
"Oh, really?" She replied in shock as she scanned the menu. Picking the roast beef panino, she also added a small latte. She saw just how loaded either he or Apollo were so had no problem making the other spend a little bit more money on her. Picking a nearby seat, she rested her head in a hand with pursed lips.

"I would love to have you to come rock a gig, sure! I'm the drummer in the band so I'm not, like... a major part but I'm sure I could get you two free tickets," she explained, laughing as she put herself down casually. "It would be nice, really, plus I think you'd like my friends a lot."
 
"I'm sure they're great, yeah? My friends, though-- look, I don't really have any friends, Mary. Never have, right? I've always been fine with my own company. I have Apollo and that's all I need. He has a lot of friends, though. People gravitate to him. Like that Cameron guy you were with earlier. He's a mate of Apollo's; not mine. I can't stand the bloke," he grunted with an unsubtle roll of his eyes, the very fact someone like Cameron was near his sister boiling his blood. He thought the guy was slimy; there was something about him he didn't trust and, unbeknown to him, his instinct was completely correct. Cameron wasn't trustworthy; at least to Apollo and Eli, at least.

"I dunno, I'm not a friendly guy, Mary. I'm an asshole," he smirked, able to admit to his faults to his sister, even if he knew she would only counter him with his good side. He did have one, after all. "...Some tickets to that gig would be cool, though. I'll tell Apollo. It's an excuse for him to buy something in some fancy store, anyway. Like he needs an excuse to go shopping, but whatever."
 
"Wait, Cameron isn't your friend?" She confirmed in disbelief as she sipped her drink. "No way, he said such nice things about you! Why dont you like him? I mean, he was sweet enough to show me where you are and if you hated him, why would he do that? Mm, this is yummy, by the way," she babbled out, her more reserved personality being replaced with pure excitement. The whole thing was overwhelming and it was no surprise that she didn't really know how to react.

"Well, I'm sure you'll like my friends. They'll love you the minute I tell them you're my brother. My one friend - Jackie - had to go to conversion therapy and she kicked the one guy right in the nuts, she's proud of that fact a lot. I would love to meet your boyfriend's friends, then if you don't consider them your own..."
 
"I just don't like him, he's suspicious to me, that's all. Gives me these weird vibes. I always trust my instinct, Mary, and my instinct is telling me that the guy's up to something. I don't want him near Apollo for that reason alone. Apollo's rich and... his Dad's pretty important. I don't want Cameron around to exploit all that," he murmured, his protectiveness of his boyfriend rearing its head. No matter how tense things might be at the moment -he imagined Apollo would be mad about what happened that morning-, he would always want to protect him; no amount of tension would change how deeply he loved the demon, after all.

"Nah, she sounds cool. Anyone who went through conversion therapy, I'm gonna connect with, obviously. It was fucking horrible," he grunted, sipping at the milkshake he had ordered, deciding that he could treat himself given the occasion. "...I mean, it wasn't that bad when I was making out with a cute guy or two, that part was fun, but otherwise, it was... awful."
 
"Well, I'm glad you're fine!" She quickly replied, realizing a bit too late that it probably wasn't the most appropriate thing to mention. Sipping her drink, she was thankful to be handed over a panino, her stomach audibly growling.

"I didn't have proper breakfast," she explained with an awkward laugh before taking a bite. "We're above water, financially, but I've just not been eating breakfast - it saves some money, yeah? All of this walking around stirs up an appetite, so... oh! Does Apollo cook? It would be cool to have, like, a formal dinner if you know this guy is the love of your life."
 
"Apollo? Cook? I mean, sure he can. He once made me a killer carbonara, but... he prefers not to. He comes from a pretty privileged background, he's had servants do everything for him. So sure, he can cook, but I think he prefers not to. Why cook when he can head out to a fancy restaurant and be served?" Shrugged Elijah with a hint of smugness about his boyfriend's position in life. He had been told countless times, after all, that he would one day receive the same luxuries of a castle with servants, even if he was more or less already content with the luxuries he had been afforded by Apollo up on Earth.

"...But that sounds good, you know? A proper meal; me, you and Apollo. He'd like that. I'd like that. He is... pretty important to me, and you are too, so... let's do that. Tonight, yeah?"
 
"I mean, I Can try my hand but I don't think it'll be nearly as good. I've been living off cold-cuts and bread for a month now. I can make you a solid grilled cheese," she teased before offering a bite of her sandwich. "Hey, maybe a nice dinner out would be nice as long as your boyfriend pays. That sounds horrible." She decided before pausing, pursing her lips.

"Oh - Oh! You should give you mu number, Eli. I want to be able to talk to you outside of your campus. I bet it would look pretty creepy, just some random chick keeping close to you on campus? Yeah, ah... probably can't do that very often," she noted quietly while sipping her drink, offering a smile. "... do you have any other classes today?"
 
"I mean, I kinda have to talk to the careers adviser but I'm not bothering with that, there's no point," he shrugged, happily accepting the sandwich to take a bite out of it. He knew his apathy towards the meeting might come across as irresponsible and even stupid, but he already knew it was all pointless. What was the point of spending an hour talking about a career he was never going to get? He had already made his mind up to leave with Apollo the moment the demon expressed his desire to take him home with him, so wasting his limited time on Earth bothering with career meetings was useless. Hell, he found wasting his time on education useless, but if Apollo was determined to see through his studies, Eli had no option but to stick around too... even if he'd rather be out travelling and partying.

"We'll go out tonight instead. I need time to get ready. Apollo makes these fucking amazing baths, with all those scented bath salts and all that. I ain't really the sorta guy who goes for baths, but... I dunno, it's sort of nice to have a long soak with candles and stuff," he snorted, resting his head on his hand as he absently checked his phone for a text, realising just how mad his boyfriend was if he hadn't texted him, even something as small as a few hearts and kisses. "...You can invite a friend or something if you wanna, I don't mind. It'd be nice to meet 'em-- and Apollo won't mind. I'll make sure he doesn't."
 
"Really? Oh, I wanna invite Agnes!" She suddenly gushed, biting her lip. "She's my best friend, I want you to meet her more than anyone. I'll have to contact her now to tell her to stop by - oh, she'll be startled to learn you're my brother, especially since you look so much different than you did before. I do too, I suppose. I show people old pictures and they never believe me when I tell them that was me. I'm sure they do the same to you, though if I'm to honest I think you'd look better with your natural hair color."

Offering a cocky smile, she began to type to her friend only to take a picture. She wanted everyone to see that she hadn't failed and just awkwardly follow a random person for that long, wasting money. As she typed, Elijah was sent a text himself.

"I'm sorry for being so mad, bb :( class is horrible without you. Everyone is whispering about it and its making me rlly uncomfortable. can u promise me that your sister will be gone by tomorrow? I want time to be alone w/ u. it's bad enough that we got interrupted twice :(((" he sent, his head in his hand with a frown as the teacher went on.
 
Smiling quietly at the photo, he rolled his eyes to himself at his sister's excitement, at least glad to see that she hadn't changed too much from the girl he remembered. As she texted her friend, his eyes drifted to his phone, the happiness at seeing a text from Apollo hitting him before he could help himself. He received (and sent) texts every day, without fail, but he always had the same feeling when seeing his phone light up with one - anything associated with Apollo just made him happy.

However, the moment of happiness faded once he actually read the message, his frown deepening at the mention of his sister. He had told Apollo everything about his past, including the little embarrassing details he hadn't told anyone else. He had told him how important Mary was to him, countless times, so the lack of acceptance from the demon and his apparent desperation to get her out of the picture wasn't just upsetting; it was infuriating. He understood the need for privacy and he wanted that - but he had to constantly deal with Apollo's attention being divided by the group of little, obsessed disciples he proceeded to allow to clamber around him.

And yet he couldn't even have his sister around?

Choosing to ignore the message, he went as far as to turn his phone off, though the anger was still there. He had anger issues -undeniably-, and it was taking every ounce of strength not to punch something, instead clenching his fists tightly together under the table.

"...I'll take you out; you and your friend. Not Apollo. He won't come," he murmured slowly, forcing a smile. "He'll just be bitchy the whole night and I don't want to deal with that. I'll take you and Agnes out, yeah? We'll go somewhere nice, I can afford it."
 
"Excellent!" She replied, a grin on her lips - that of which she moved to fix with black lipstick once finishing her food. She had to keep up her dark aesthetic, right? Typing quickly, she immediately received a response from her friend. "This means a lot to me, Eli. I just... I don't want you to think I'm mooching off of you, though, okay? I promise that the next time I get paid, I'll buy us some food too. It'll just... take awhile. Not all of us can be in your situation," she reminded teasingly before leaning back once her lipstick was finished.

"God, I'm so happy you're back," she whispered under her breath as she watched her brother, her cheeks rosy. "I missed you so much, I... know I'm not good at expressing it. I want to shove this all in our parents' faces. Like, look what we did without them! You're going to school, I'm in a band, neither of us look like we're 80."
 
"I don't ever wanna see them again, you know? I don't think it'd be healthy for me to see them after I've worked so hard getting over that period of my life-- but fuck 'em, right? We don't need them. I'm glad you got outta there, though. God knows what they'd have you living like if you didn't escape," he smiled, his eyes briefly taking in the makeup. His sister was old enough to do what she wanted, but he did find himself frowning a little at the lipstick. Not that he cared what she decided to do with her appearance -he was proud of her for expressing herself, if anything- but it was a reminder of how old she was, and how much he had missed, even if his absence was hardly his fault.

"...You don't need to pay me back, you're my little sister, I'm allowed to fucking spoil you, yeah? Besides, it's just a meal, Mary. I'm not splurging a whole lot-- though hey, we should go shopping and do that. I want to treat 'ya. I have the money to do that, and I've missed a few birthdays and Christmases, so I should catch up," he laughed, cracking his knuckles absently. "So, uh... you can go and shower and get dressed later, and I'll call you and we can meet back here at about 7? Then head out for that meal?"
 
"Okay, yeah. I mean, I want to look nice if we go somewhere as fancy as you're implying it is. I picked up this nice black velvet dress from the secondhand by my place," she explained, proud of her thrifting skills. She may not have much but she knew how to make it work and like hell was she going to let money get in the way of her love for fashion.

Getting to her feet, she adjusted her back and pulled Elijah into a tight hug. She knew it was absurd but for all she knew, her brother could be taken away from her without her knowing somehow and she didn't want that to happen again. Keeping him close, she reluctantly pulled away after a long while and offered a smile, flipping on her sunglasses. "I love you, I'll see you at seven."
 
The moment his sister left was the moment Elijah realised he had nothing to do and, importantly, nowhere really to go. He, for many reasons, didn't want to go back to Apollo's dorm where he might end up interacting with him, thinking that it was unwise when he was as pissed with him as he was. He, for that reason, couldn't go back to his own dorm, knowing the demon would end up looking there for him. So, for the remainder of the day, Elijah stayed in the library; somewhere he never really went and, so, became the perfect hiding place for him.

He eventually returned to Apollo's dorm at around 6:30, deciding that he had spent enough time calming down. Admittedly, he wouldn't have approached the dorm if he hadn't left some of his new clothes there; clothes he was intending to wear out to the evening meal. As much as he wanted to avoid a potential argument, he also knew that he couldn't just avoid his boyfriend forever.

"...I'm going out," he mumbled once inside the room, bracing himself for some emotional outpouring or, more likely, some angry outburst. "With my sister. You were supposed to come but I figured it wouldn't be your thing."
 
"Do you know how worried I've been?!" Immediately replied Apollo, his cheeks stained with tears and his eyes red while wrapped up in a blanket, the television babbling on in the background as he clutched his phone tight. Apollo wasn't one to be overly emotional, having been told it was one of his many flaws from his father. In fact, he remembered distinctly the day he was yelled at. Since then he had been adamant on keeping such weak emotions to himself, and Elijah was always the exception.

"I-I'm sorry," he whimpered, wiping his nose on the sleeve of his oversized sweater. "I just... I feel like we never get time together as is and I know that she's your sister but I just want to be able to have a night for just us again. I understand if you're mad, just... please stop ignoring me?" He pleaded. He knew he could do as he wished and force Elijah to do what he wanted but unlike his followers, he wanted to give his boyfriend the benefit of the doubt.
 
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