GOTTA GET BACK UP & LEARN TO DEAL

closed: @elifitzmorris​

location: matt’s house

Matthew loved cooking, it was one of the few things he was good at and it kept him sane and busy so his mind didn’t start spiraling. His Hellofresh kit had just come in and as he was working through debating on the options he heard the lock turn from his front door. Clearly his brother took the emergency key he gave him as a- well here’s a key so you can come and go as you please. It didn’t bug him though, at least he was not doing anything embarrassing. “I’m in the kitchen!” He called out. Matt pulled out the three recipe cards figuring Eli can help pick out their dinner tonight. “So we have a few options here, but I’ll let you pick because I can’t decide.” ( here, here, and here )

For once in life, Eli was on time to meet his brother for dinner and a hang. How that happened, he didn't know it was really just a mystery in itself but it happened and he set his keys on the table by the door as he heard Matt yell for him and followed it back toward the kitchen. "S'up, dude." He greeted as he emerged into the room and then examed the cards before plucking the first one and showing it to him. "This one looks dope." He told him before grabbing a glass to fill with water. "What'd you do with your day?"

@elifitzmorris​

Liv was clocking in her Eli time, they had spent a fair bit of time with each other this summer but summer was coming to end in a hurry and she wanted to be able to do things before the stress of school came and took over her brain. Don’t get her wrong, she loves her job- it’s how she met her favourite person- but when Liv gets overwhelmed she turns into a hermit. They were picking out their balls and clubs, Liv usually wouldn’t be one to wear white but it was glow in the dark mini golf afterall and she wanted to shine. “Did you close up contract negotiations?” Liv asked.

“Closed and bountiful. You know that weird teacher? Faulkner? Smells like wet cats?” He asked as he picked up one of the blue clubs from where it was resting. “Apparently someone married him and his honeymoon slash taking a sabbatical that starts at the beginning of the school year so I am covering his classes the entire first month, so guess you’re stuck havin’ lunch with me.” Elijah explained and bumped her shoulder with his own. “So ya know exciting things happening. Daddy’s gonna get paid, can I get a whoot-whoot?!” 

Sienna lifted her eyes up towards the male, watching him as he shook his arms. She sat a up a little, leaning forward and getting ready to get into action if it was something she was going to need to do. “Are you okay?” Her words were soft as she nodded her head, leaning back in her chair as she moved her foot out, pushing the chair across from her out. “Sit down and eat that muffin. I don’t think I can be okay with you walking around and eating it at the same time,” she teased with a smile coming along her features.

With a few more gasps of breath and a sit in the offered seat Elijah did eventually manage to recover and catch his breath, giving her teasing a nod of acknowledgment. “Good lookin’ out.” He chuckled and set his coffee cup on the table. “Don’t mean to crash your... whatever ya got goin’ on here, but, appreciate it.”

“Well, if you insist.” The whole gimmick was kind of funny, though he couldn’t imagine that the tortoise understood what was going on. Wordlessly, he slipped a few dollar bills on top of the tortoise – not that he knew how long they’d stay there. 

“Does the tortoise also tap dance?” he joked. “If so, that is one super-powered tortoise.”

“Anyone ever tell ya, ya give some suave, Joie de vivre vibes?” Elijah asked as he stepped forward to carefully snatch up Dmitri and then without warning placed the small turtle in the guys hand. “Let Dmitri soak your vibes. Let him have your energy. Pet him. Look him in the eye if you have to. Bond with him.” He instructed like the wise sage of chaotic energy that he was.

Mason would, given the opportunity, yell from the rooftops of how Portland was the right city for him. Portland was weird in the most wonderful kind of way, his eccentric self fit right in among the locals as no one even batted an eyelid as he whistled out a random tune while he walked down the streets, a feat that would earn many side-eyes in LA. Whistling and sometimes even singing wasn’t the strangest thing these people have seen, and Mason had to agree because he had seen them all. A man juggling fruit? Classic. Another dude tap dancing while advertising for something? Been there, done that! A turtle paining? He’s seen that a dozen times! Hang on, no he hadn’t, not even once.

“Whoa,” he exclaimed once he backtracked, a few seconds were spent darting for the dancing dude to the painting turtle, and a few more to convince himself that he was not high, “That turtle has skill!” It was then he took notice of the sign and his widened, and not just because it had Mason’s second favourite F word, “Can the little guy really draw my aura?”

Without missing a beat Elijah flashed a charming and indulgent smile at the new comer to the street sideshow and he nodded. “He can indeed. Fun factoid of the day, some turtles, can in fact see one extra color that humans cannot sense. Unlike humans who are not color blind, turtles can have four types of cone cells in their eye. The standard red, blue, green and then a fourth one that is sensitive to the ultraviolet. So it’s more likely that a turtle can read your aura better than any human who claims they can, and Dmitri here,” He pointed to the industrious little animal. “Is an artist and puts his gift to many a great use. He makes people happy. It’s his life mission.”

“That doesn’t sound boring that sounds fun.” She whined. “I’ve always wanted to do something like that. Dad never thought acting was my strong suit though, so…” Genevieve trailed off, shrugging before yelping as he pulled her onto his lap. “Ugh, school don’t remind me. I’m dreading it.” Felix’ decision to go to public school this year was not one that Genevieve liked, but she didn’t have to bother him with that. Instead, she shifted to straddle his lap and wrapped her arms around his neck as he kissed her. “Nice to know you find me enticing.” She giggled in-between kisses. “You know me, I know how to fight. I’ll fuck em’ up.” Genevieve teased, but she was sort of serious. Her feisty streak didn’t completely die once she reinvented herself. “I missed you.” She admitted as she finally broke the kiss, resting her head on his forehead. Genevieve didn’t mean to make things serious, so she gave him a smirk before adding, “You know we’re not gonna have sex on this couch, right?”

A small chuckle left Eli’s lips as he heard her yelp, finding it truly adorable as she made herself comfortable on his lap and his arms snaked themselves loosely around her waist. “As hot as that I would be. I’d rather have you, than any of them, any day of the week so you wouldn’t have to.” He reassured her, though he would have paid money to watch her fight someone over him even though he was pretty sure  It would have been a no contest knock out. A feeling of almost relief seemed to wash over Eli’s shoulders when he heard those words and let her forehead rest against his. It wasn’t that he doubted for a second that she didn’t, but hearing it brought him a sense of calm. “I missed you too.” His voice was soft and loving. A gleam of adornment overtook his eyes for a moment and just as quickly it was gone as heard her next words and nuzzled his face into her neck, laying a few kisses there as he mumbled, “I know, I know.” He agreed knowing this was just not the place for that, but he couldn’t help but sing smoothly into her ear, “but, If it's cool we can do a little sumthin' sumthin'” Cause what was smoother than throwing a little Maxwell at her before he went on to lay a few more bites and kisses across her neck.

The only upside to her son being gone for the whole summer was that Genevieve could spend her time freely. Most people would garden, maybe pick up a hobby or two, or finally clean out the freezer. For Gen though, that meant spending most of her days with her kind of sort of boyfriend. Things had been open between them since she left to take care of her sick grandmother a few months prior. Even though she wasn’t getting any, she didn’t want to “deprive him of ass” as she put it. Besides, things weren’t really serious between the two, and if they were, he would’ve met her son Felix. However, Genevieve had found herself really thinking about what she wanted in the future as of late. The last thing she wanted to do was make things awkward with Eli and talk about her dreams and wants. However, she wasn’t getting any younger, and if she wanted to possibly finally get married and have two more kids any time soon, she had to say something now. That could wait however, because until the moment felt right, Genevieve was keeping her mouth shut for once in her life.

“Alright, Postmates is on the way.” She told Eli, before plopping right next to him on the couch. “Y’know, sometimes I really wish they’d get here a little faster but thats the price for being lazy I guess.” Genevieve told him as she inspected her well-worn manicure. She had all the time in the world left to fix it but she simply was very very lazy. “So, what have you been up to?” She asked as she gingerly placed her legs on his. “I personally have been doing absolutely nothing and I think I’m gonna die from boredom. I mean there was that charity event a few weeks ago, but other than that…nothing. And no, helping Eevee with her twist-out of the day doesn’t count as a thing. That is a chore. We both were blessed with the too-much hair gene and its horrible. So tell me about the life and times of Eli Morris because a spicy day in Genevieve’s Life consists of watching one of Eevee’s dogs take a shit.” 

@elifitzmorris​

Eli sat back one arm laid against the back of the couch the other holding onto his phone as he lazily replied to a quick work email while Gen ordered them food. Normally, whenever they spent time together, she had all of his attention and how could she not? She was --though he’d probably never admit it to anyone he wasn’t related to-- everything he could possibly want in a person... or, almost everything, The fact that she was both, older and had a kid, it wasn’t a deal breaker for him, but it also didn’t exactly mean they had a lot of time to just have fun for an extended amount of time. Sooner, rather than later, they were going to have to decide if this was serious or not and that point was probably going to be sooner than he was probably comfortable with which meant for as long as he could he was going to be in denial and ignore it. If that meant he had to distract himself with work whenever they weren’t either talking or not talking than so be it. 

Thankfully he had just hit send by the time she’d came and sat back down next to him and in return he slipped his phone back into his pocket and gave her his full undivided attention and ran his fingers lazily across her legs. “The life and times of Eli Morris, are also pretty boring.” He chuckled out. “Recording cartoon voices, negotiating my contracts with the school boards before the school year starts... I did have to avoid a couple chuckle fuckers  after my set last night, but other than that. I am pretty boring, I’m afraid.” The man admitted before pulling her onto his lap. “You on the other hand are far from boring. I happen to find you incredibly enticing.” Elijah told her with a smirk before pulling her into a kiss. 

Luke never got used to Portland keeping things weird, probably because he never ventured out much. He was used to the odd vegan strip club or the donut shop that also served as a wedding chapel, but nothing, and I tell you nothing, prepared him for the sight he was about to see. He was fully prepared to wave at Eli. since he saw him from behind, and maybe even strike up a conversation. However, once he got in front of him and saw what he was doing, Luke couldn’t help but take a long deep sigh. Between the tap dancing, the turtle, the paint, and the claim that a turtle could read auras of all things all combined into pure and utter chaos. Luke didn’t know what to think of the spectacle before him and all that he could mutter with his confused expression was: “Why?”

It was barely audible but he could still hear the faint question of ‘why’ slip through the cracks of Luke’s lips causing Eli to snort in amusement. “Dude. Why not. That is the real question.” He stated and walked over to clap the man on the shoulder. “You’ve gotta learn how to embrace the chaos. You’ve got to learn to embrace the fun. You...” He paused for a second before taking the sign from around his neck and off his chest. “You have got to wear the sign, my friend.” 

Ayrton sat in the backseat of the car, eyes focused on nothing in particular as the chauffeur drove him back to Lake Oswego. He wasn’t feeling great but couldn’t pinpoint what is was just yet and decided to head home early. As they reached an intersection, the car stopped. Ayrton distractedly looked around until a rather unusual sight piked his interest. A tortoise. And it sure looked like it was painting. However, the car began moving again just as Ayrton caught sight of Eli. Was he surprised? He had no idea… but it had lifted his spirits enough for him to ask the driver to turn around. “What are you doing to this poor animal?” he asked, amusement clear in his voice as he stepped out of the car. “Let a turtle draw your aura…” he read out loud “well… okay but I want to make it clear that I’m doing it for the turtle”.

“Aye, yo, Ayrton!” He called out as he continued to tap his toes and chuckled. “I am not doing anything to the turtle this is his chosen skill set.” He turned his attention to the small creature. “Ain’t that right Dmitri?” He asked out as he stopped to lift up the turtle and change the canvas to a blank one. “He’s got the eye, just stand back and be ready to be amazed.” He told him as he “scanned” --lifted and lowered-- the turtle up and down his friend’s torso before setting him back down on the canvas before loading some pink paint into the contraption and letting Dmirit go to work, before turning his attention back to Ayrton. “You want some water, man? You don’t look so hot. Which is saying something, cause you’re very hot.”

“Yeah, I know”, Mirela blushed a bit when he whistled. She was just very excited with all the makeover, and the plans for the new nursery that sometimes she’d forget of how fancy her neighborhood was, and the last thing she wanted was to sound condescending over it. She looked towards where he was pointing, and she was glad to change the topic of conversation from her house to his friend, “She was clever, I should have brought a friend too, but I really had no idea there would be this many options”, she shook her head and sighed. She was decisive with her choices, but after her parents’ reaction to her pregnancy, she lost it. He made her smile when he said he loved her, she was a helpless romantic, and a romance born from a friendship sounded perfect, “You know the best and most successful relationships are born from a friendship”, she said casually while taking her phone and opening the gallery, “You sure she won’t mind if you help me too? I can show you the pics I have of the space, and also the images the designer created”

Elijah couldn’t help but let out a very mocking snort when she mentioned relationships coming from friendship and chuckled. “ It’s definitely not like that on any level.” He shook his head not at all inclined to go to that place as far as his friend was concerned for several reasons. One of which being-- “Besides, I have a sort of girlfriend... well a girlfriend. We’re in a sort of an open relationship at the moment because of unforeseen circumstances in life, but I don’t know she could be it for me, honestly, I don’t know right now.” He shrugged not really having anything more to say about the subject. It was currently a complicated situation with a lot of factors, one that could only be fixed with an eventual conversation he’d have to have with said girlfriend. “But ignoring all that, no she won’t mind, she’s in the zone with silverware. It has to fit her energy.” He exaggeratedly and jokingly rolled his eyes. “Show me the pics. I am all yours for now.” 

Sienna sat down at the table, holding her cup of coffee in her hands as she let her eyes rest on the area in front of her. Double days were starting to wear her out to the point where she was more than sure it would be possible for her to fall asleep right here and right now. She yawned slightly, lifting her arm up to cover up the yawn. She kept her gaze on the surface of the table until she heard someone clear their throat. “Hmm?” She lifted her eyes up towards the figure in front of them. “Sorry, the seat’s open if that’s what you were wondering.”

@startingportbay​

At this point in the day Eli was practically running on auto pilot, That’s always how it seemed to be if he went too long without caffeine in his system. Not because he couldn’t function without it, oh no, that wasn’t it at all, He had more will power than that, No, he just liked the jittery buzz of a good iced coffee more than once at day --at least that’s what he told himself anyway-- So that is how the tall man had come to be in the coffee shop. At first with no plans of staying, but then seeing as he was just going to go home and look over papers anyway, he might as well stay and do it here. So he grabbed his coffee and a blueberry muffin and made his way to find a table shoveling a big bite of muffin in his mouth as he went passed table after table. it only made sense that one of the chunks of blueberry would go down the wrong pipe and cause him to cough and try and easily dislodge it from his throat by clearing it. He hadn’t meant to disturb anyone while doing so but apparently he’d brought attention to himself and urgently shook hims head at the girl. “Not--” He cleared his throat again. “I wasn’t-- wasn’t asking just--” He lifted the cup to his lips and chugged a sip so that he could speak more than two words a minute. “Sorry, wasn’t askin’ just choking to near death, no big deal.” He stated nonchalantly. "I’m good though.”

Liv grinned as Eli unraveled a scheme, he was a lot better at these things than she was- not that she didn’t have her moments but Eli was better on his feet than her. If something went wrong while she was trying to get away with something she would either dive into typical girl things and start crying for sympathy or run. She’s a runner, definitely an avoider of problems. Her eyes lit up and nodded as he wrapped up. “I definitely think you are nice, but hey- I don’t fuck someone who isn’t nice. I think it would be a great indicator of who I want to spend time with- will you buy me groceries- no? Then in the words of the Goddess Beyonce, boy bye,” she chuckled. “Okay but could you imagine Community without Troy and Abed- it would be unwatchable, not that I don’t love me the rest of the cast- it just wouldn’t be the same,” she shrugged. Liv wasn’t far in Psych but she definitely needed to spend the rest of her break binging and watch the two films. She expected she was going to fall into her post-binge depression though. She thought there should be support groups for people who watch too much tv. “There have been episodes where I like Gus more than Shawn, but for the most part I find them equally awesome. American Duos- I will make a note to tell you when I’m there. I think the last episode i saw was the one where there was a bunch of apparent suicides but it turns out it was some guy from the hotline. Shawn pretending her could read the cat’s mind- but I have a question. If he’s not psychic, why are there scenes where he’s doing his wrap up that we can see what’s happening. Is that how he’s envisioning it or?”

“What if they won’t buy you groceries cause they are as equally underpaid as we are though? Would they have to explain that or would a solid no be enough to pass?” Eli couldn’t help but ask cause honestly he saw his paychecks. If he had to live on his teacher's salary and stand-up alone he’d be near struggling, but years of freelance accounting, not to mention PR for Eevee and various other clients, right outta college, various other jobs he’d lucked into, and a keen brain for math and finance had set him up to be financially stable, even a bit wealthy and independent to do whatever he wanted for a while. Not that Liv or really anyone, besides Eevee, really knew that. He did pay for everything, every time he went out with any friend, but when questioned about it shrugged it off as just being good with money and left it at that. “Community would definitely not have done as well without Donald and Danny that is for sure, but I would have still watched it for Shirly and Jeff. If I didn’t already know I was bi, Joel McHale and Yvette Nicole Brown would have been the awakening.” He said with an amused grin across his lips. “We can see what happens cause it’s what’s happening in his head while he’s breaking things down. Plus if he was just explaining it and we couldn’t see it, cinematically it wouldn’t be as dynamic. It could be argued that on some level he is a little psychic and it enhances his detective skills. Either way, I’m good with it.”