the ocean calling

⸻ ✧ 𝐁𝐈𝐎𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐏𝐇𝐘 ⟨ the past ⟩

With a name like Lawson some would say he was destined to be in law enforcement one day. His path to getting there wasn't quite as simple as that. Born and raised in Covington, his father a blue collar man and proud, and his mother a teacher, Elijah came into the world as the third of four children. With two older sisters and eventually a younger brother, he sometimes slipped through the watchful eyes of his involved parents.

In school he played basketball and was a great running back in football until size became too big of a factor. He was average at best. School bored him but he did well enough to keep his parents happy. They'd always stressed the importance of going to university one day, especially following in his older sisters footsteps. Though, Eli always considered them overachievers.

First heartbreak came at 13 when his crush turned him down after he'd asked her to the dance. Years later she'd end up marrying him but at the time she wasn't allowed to date and eventually the rumor went around that her best friend had a crush on him and she was just doing the right thing.

Went off to university at Temple where he was pre-law with the intention of becoming a civil rights lawyer. It changed when he'd been witness to a crime and would later see the defendant get off scott free. Even with his testimony, the defense outshined the prosecution. Elijah became determined to be the best prosecutor ever seen, but again that would change when he'd receive a call from his sister that her best friend had been found murdered.

The case would go on to become a mystery and remain unsolved, giving him a first hand view of the destruction something horrific like could inflict on a family. His own sister's mental health deteriorated and she became a agoraphobic, afraid to leave her own house. With his law degree in hand, Elijah found himself with a badge as a detective with the Georgia Bureau of Investigations.

When it comes to the job he's relentless and tenacious, unwavering in his pursuit of the the truth. He understood through personal experience that punishments rarely ever fit the crime, what people wanted/needed most was answers. So, he works and works to give that much.

At 19 Elijah had been reunited with his teenage crush from home when they crossed paths at a party in Philly. She was going to another big school in the same city and they decided that fate had intervened for them. They married a year later. After a few years the young love couldn't survive the hardships of life, not when Elijah had been so effected by the tragedy that changed the course of future careers. When he needed to go home to Covington, she decided that she couldn't follow and that was that.

It took time for him to work his way up the ladder and to gain respect with his fellow agents. Most considered him overly passionate about his job, that he had an inability to turn it off at the end of the day, and his colleagues were right. The first few years Elijah had trouble sleeping at night with the things he'd known and seen, but as time wore on he walled up as a way to protect himself.

One after the other, which hadn't been all that surprising, his parents passed. It drove his sister deeper into herself. With her agoraphobia she'd been living with their parents so to keep her safe and from any kind of institution, Elijah moved her into his home. With work and his dedication to it, he's not there as much as he should be anyway, so it felt like a deal to have someone living in and taking care of the place.

Every time he's tried his hand at dating or relationships or love it's failed. The job demands too much of him, takes up too much space within him, that he's understood he can't give someone else what they need. Time and attention.