☆ and meet me there ☆

“ i can’t say that i have, ” he admitted, though he’d heard about others’ exploits through the grapevine and almost none of them had divulged anything helpful to their predicament besides the odd secret passage here and there. still, it was a huge castle. there was a good chance there was still a room here and there that hadn’t yet been explored. “ but we’ve been here for weeks and no one’s found anything of importance. of course, you could definitely try. did you have any plans of how you’re going to go about your search? ”

“ soon, hopefully, ” he smiled, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. it was a question that had been sitting at the back on eli’s mind for weeks now, but recently started to reappear at full force in his thoughts as the situation grew more and more grim each day. “ things may seem grave but we can’t lose hope now. without hope then there’s definitely no way we’ll get out. ”

“ your thoughts on the current fishing season are positively riveting. i’d love to discuss them in more detail, but you really must excuse me. i think i see... my parents calling me. yes, i must go right away, ” he flashed a grin to the baroness. beginning to stride towards the far end of the grand ballroom, he subtly ducked and weaved to avoid anyone who would have definitely stopped him to converse. like viscountess rebecca and her hairless cat that she takes everywhere. he internally shivered. the prince gave the girl a wink before ducking out of her sight behind a clump of servers. suddenly, he swooped in from behind, grabbing viola’s hand and bowing gently to kiss it. “ you don’t mind if i steal her for a moment, would you, your majesty? ” he addressed the king. he flashed his most charming ‘ prince smile™ ’ before guiding the girl in the direction of the desserts table. “ you’re welcome, ” eli chuckled.

“ oh, it definitely is. first, i’m at my ex-girlfriend’s birthday party. then, i run into my other ex-girlfriend who has been awol for years. and who knows! since it seems like i’m running into every girl who decides to leave me, maybe i’ll finally meet my birth mother, too! ” he joked. he scoffed to himself. like that would ever happen. “ y’know, i guess it could be a good thing she’s here. maybe i’ll get closure or something. but, i do have to assert that i am pretty bad at love. i mean, i’m twenty-seven and every single person i thought would work ends up dumping me! i think i’ll just get a cat and call it a day at this point, ” eli laughed, hoping to relieve the tension that was building up in his chest at the thought of his past relationships. he continued to instinctively weave her hair the way he had done so many times before, listening to her speak before letting the braid go immediately and grabbing her forearm to gently but suddenly spin her around to face him. “ two? who are they? do i know them? what are their intentions? two? ”

he nodded slowly. it stunned him at first how certain she sounded, but chalked it up to the whole royalty thing. “ yeah. elijah. but no one really calls me that, at least not anyone i consider a friend, so please, just eli. it’s nice to meet you, melinda, ” he smiled genuinely, then broke eye contact awkwardly to stare at his lasagna instead. “ i didn’t know fey did that. that’s pretty cool. i didn’t even realize there were going to be fey here. do princesses always get blessed on their birthdays, or is this like, a special thing? ” eli asked. he’d never heard of fey blessing people before, but he was also pretty ignorant to most this magic stuff since there wasn’t much of it in corona. the boy took a peek at his timer. fifteen minutes left, then he could finally have something to keep his hands busy again. he shoved them in his apron and answered, “ well, i’m mostly here to see my friends. and princess vi and i have... history, too, so i thought it’d be rude not to show. plus my whole family came. ”

he nudged the girl in the shoulder playfully before taking a seat. “ mhm. yeah, that’s what i thought, ” he smirked. he’d barely seen his family in the past few weeks with all the chaos, so he was looking forward the chance to just chat. he reached into the bag she was holding and took a cookie for himself. “ i’ve been in the library researching types of magic, mostly. it’s actually fascinating and i’d probably enjoy myself much more if not for the situation we’re in. what about you? ”

“ probably… being so quick to love. you’d think i’d have learned my lesson the first time. yet still, i keep giving my heart away just for it to be ripped open time and time again. and knowing me, it’ll probably happen again. i just can’t get it right. ”

“ oh, are you friends with viola, then? ” he asked. there were so many people at this party. eli couldn’t keep up with who was friends with who and who was here solely for appearance sake and who was here just for a good time.  “ i’ve been okay, ” he shrugged, trying to sound as unphased as possible, “ i’d be much better if we weren’t stuck in a castle, but other than that i’ve definitely been worse... so. ” it had been so long since they’d seen each other, but eli couldn’t help but think she was just as stunning as the first time he’d ever laid eyes on her. it made his heart ache a bit. he cleared his throat. “ sorry, it’s just... god, it’s been a while, hasn’t it? ”

“ wow… i actually don’t know. i guess my family? they come before anyone and everyone. but, i can’t truly choose between any of them. i love them all equally! ”

“ cordelia! of all people! of course we were able to go without seeing each other for years and then get stuck together with no way out! ” he immediately began to absentmindedly braid her hair in effort to calm himself down ( which worked very well ). “ i thought i was over this by now. thought it was behind me. thought i forgot all about it! but then i saw her face for the first time since she left me and its like i was punched in the gut all over again. god, why am i so bad at love, lia? ” thank god for venting. it felt like someone had lifted a huge weight off of his chest. with a quiet sigh, he continued much calmer, “ okay, i’m done. what’s going on in your life? y’know, besides being trapped in a castle. ”

“ you’re busy? ” he deadpanned with a raised eyebrow, obviously unconvinced. dramatically, he pulled a small baggie from his pocket and sighed loudly. “ well, i guess if you’re so busy that you can’t even spare some time for your favorite older brother then i guess you probably don’t have time for these cookies i baked this morning... ” by the time he finished the grin on his face already gave away the fact that he was just teasing, already extending the baked goods out to his sibling.

“ oh. the cutting boards are in a cabinet in the corner over there, ” he pointed absentmindedly. something in his gut wasn’t sitting right. it was almost like an uneasiness that grew inside him the closer this stranger got, but also not quite the same. it was a feeling he just couldn’t explain. but his parents had always taught him to give people the benefit of the doubt so its not like he had any reason to not like this woman... although they also taught him to trust his gut and his gut was screaming ‘ there’s something weird going on here. ’ in compromise, he just backed up away from her and the counter and waited for his lasagna to bake, the odd tingling calming down significantly. wow. he never realized how bored he was without any cell phone reception. right about now he’d probably be on social media, but instead he was left twiddling his thumbs and sneaking glances at the stranger, wondering if she was going to leave anytime soon. “ um, i’m eli, by the way. i don’t think we’ve ever met before. were you here for the party? ”