The Sage

“Likewise,” he said with half a smile, glancing down to the sandwich half for a moment before taking it. “Thank you. So, Chandler,” he started, taking a bite of the sandwich, chewing it, and swallowing it quickly, “are your parents fan of detective novels or Friends?”

Elijah nodded at the girl’s response, spooning another bite of pudding into his mouth. “Ah, okay,” he said after swallowing the bite down. At her question, he hesitated, trying to decide whether or not to lie. “Patient,” the boy replied after a moment, placing his spoon into the already near empty cup. He picked up one of his other pudding cups and held it out as an offering to the stranger. “I’m Eli.”

Elijah glanced up at the sound of the voice, pausing for a my beat before shaking his head. “You can sit here if you want,” he said, shrugging his shoulders as he took another bite of his pudding. He eyed her for a moment before deciding she must have been visiting someone - she had the same healthy, but moderately concerned look that his sister had every time he saw her at the hospital. He placed his hands in his lap for a mere moment, tugging on his sleeves to cover himself up more. “You a patient or ypu visiting someone?” He asked after a couple of silent seconds, figuring it’d be more awkward to sit in complete silence and eat than talk and eat.

( @chandler-murdoch )

Admittedly, being stuck on suicide watch in a hospital wasn’t the best. However, the worst part of it all was zero privacy. For the past three days, everywhere Elijah went, his sister, Dinah, or a nurse was trailing two feet behind him. He didn’t even have the luxury of taking a shit in peace without a nurse asking him to crack the door open. But, for the first time, they let him go to the cafeteria by himself. Well, technically, a nurse stood near the door to watch him, but it was the most alone he had been since ‘the incident’, as Dinah favored to call it.

With three pudding cups and a spoon in hand, Eli made a beeline to the only empty table in the cafeteria and sat down, letting out a sigh of relief. Setting two of the cups down, the boy grabbed the lid end with his teeth and pulled the top off, crumpling it up into a ball. He took a bite of the pudding and leaned back in his chair, silently wishing he had brought his sketch book down to draw while he was alone.

Ever since Chandler’s mom was admitted to the hospital because of her failing health, Chandler found herself spending more time in the hospital than her own house. Spending so much time in her mother’s room was depressing, to say the least, but it had gotten to the point where Chandler was almost scared to not be around her mom, just in case the worst happened. And most days, that would include eating lunch in her room, but today wasn’t like most days. Chandler’s father had shown up, and as much as she loved her dad, his depression and anger over seeing his wife dying was almost too much for the girl. So, she decided to eat alone, in the cafeteria. 

Eli glanced down to the painting for a moment before looking back up to Chandler. He whipped it around, showcasing the painting - a serene portrait of his friend, gold rays of sun hitting her blue hued face. “I think this may be my best one yet. What do you think?”

Eli smiled in earnest, letting out a quiet laugh. “Thanks, Chandler,” he replied, running a paint stained hand through his hair. An hour or so passed, the spirit painting his friend as he hummed along to the music drifting through out the room. Once he was finished, he set his paintbrush down, rubbing his hands on his grimy jeans. “I think I’m done,” Eli said, sitting up straighter to stretch out his back. He tilted his head to one side, his neck cracking, then did it again on the other side. He grabbed the canvas, hiding the portrait from Chandler. “Shall we have a great reveal?”

Eli smiled in earnest, letting out a quiet laugh. “Thanks, Chandler,” he replied, running a paint stained hand through his hair. An hour or so passed, the spirit painting his friend as he hummed along to the music drifting through out the room. Once he was finished, he set his paintbrush down, rubbing his hands on his grimy jeans. “I think I’m done,” Eli said, sitting up straighter to stretch out his back. He tilted his head to one side, his neck cracking, then did it again on the other side. He grabbed the canvas, hiding the portrait from Chandler. “Shall we have a great reveal?”

“It’s going pretty good,” He replied, not looking up from his work. “Might be my best work yet, but then again, I have the world’s best muse,” Eli said, flashing her a large, cheesy smiling before resuming his portrait of her.

It took Eli a moment to figure out what Chandler put on the record player, smiling faintly when he recognized it. “It’s good,” he said with a nod of his head, glancing back at his friend to watch her for a beat. His gaze flicked back to his painting, which currently consisted of Chandler’s hair, head, and shoulders. He grabbed a purple tube of paint and squirted a dime sized amount onto his palette before swirling it together with the blue with his brush. “Wanna watch that movie in a little bit? I bet we can find it somewhere.”

Elijah snorted out a laugh, glancing up to Chandler for a moment to see how the light streaming in from the window was hitting her. “All the time in the world, and it’s still impossible to make it through a boring ass book…. We should watch Young Frankenstein soon,” he commented, continuing to paint. The record ending, the ghost crinkled up his nose in disdain. “Wanna pick something for us to listen to?”

“You know I’ll never remember that.” Elijah waved his paint brush dismissively in the air at Chandler before going back to work on his painting. “God speed, Chandy. I tried to read that a decade or two ago, I couldn’t focus on it at all. I did see that Gene Wilder movie, though,” he replied, dipping his brush into the green paint. “What part are you at?”

“Yeah, it’s been a while. I think the last one I made of you was for your birthday, with you as that one character from Star Trek,” he said, mixing up Star Trek and Star Wars as he usually did. He shook up a tube of blue paint, squirting a little onto a palette, before doing the same with a green and a gold paint. Grabbing a brush, he looked up to Chandler, smiling faintly. She looked tranquil, beautiful - he had to paint her as she was in that moment. “What book are you reading?” He asked, dipping the brush into the blue and starting to paint.

Eli watched as Chandler stood up and searched for the canvases, face scrunching up in confusion as she grabbed them from atop the bookcase. “Why would I put them the, there?” He asked mostly to himself as he took the supplies from her. “Thanks….” The spirit trailed off, sticking his tongue out at his friend at her teasing. “Yeah, yeah, I’m practically ancient,” Eli said with a roll of his eyes, though a small smile rested on his lips. “Now, what to paint, what to paint…” He sat down beside the art supplies once again, setting down two of the canvases and keeping one in his lap. “I have a completely original idea; you’re gonna be my subject,” Eli deadpanned, looking over to the fellow ghost - most of his paintings were of Chandler.

“Canvases, two smallish ones and another larger one,” Eli said, glancing around the room in a feeble attempt to look for the missing supplies. “I didn’t steal any extras because I could have sworn I had some stashed under our bed.” He sat down beside her, back leaning against the wall. “Did you happen to see them? I mean, it’s possible I just forgot where I actually left them.”

Elijah chuckled along with Chandler, wrapping his arms around her as she hugged him. “Anytime,” he replied with a faint smile, keeping her in the embrace. “… You’re not just saying that, right?” he asked after a beat, pulling away a little to look at her. “Because, I do wanna help.”

Eli chewed on his lip, looking up to her with a faint, sad grin. “I see,” he murmured, letting out a low sigh. “Well, maybe we can try to fix this. I want to help you when you’re feeling bad. Or at least, try,” the ghost said. “Will you try to tell me when stuff’s bothering you from now on?”