Iām. Iām in Georgia, home of heatstroke and peaches!! Iām,,,, thanks, yāall
@lr1ght. H@ng t1ght, th3n.Ā
Youāre very welcome, dear. Also; if thereās anything youād like to bring with, Iād suggest making sure you have that with you when Ace comes by?Ā
Iā¦all I have is my froggie n heās always with me soā¦. Iām ready whenever!
Aceās phone buzzes with a new notification; upon checking it once she steps out of the shadows and into the Georgia heat, she notes itās merely Cal replying to Eliās latest message with a shortĀ āAlright. If you see someone with a sour expression and odd tattoos all up her arms, thatās Ace.āĀ
Alright, not very short.
Itās a worried kind of tone sheās been picking up on from Cal all through this; or at least a very good imitation of it; which is honestly understandable given that a couple hours ago, theyād found out the kid was living out of varying parks and whatnot. Trying, and failing, to hide the concern on her expression, Ace realizes she has no idea who to be looking for as she takes a glance around.Ā
She does a quick check through the area sheās landed in as she adds to the threadĀ ā@nyth1ng 1 sh0uld k3ep @n ey3 0ut f0r? Def1n1ng charact3r1tist1cs?āĀ
Eli is sitting under a tree in the park, holding on tightly to a brightly colored frog plushie. Heās extremely skinny, looking a few years younger than his 14 years, and has a head of reddish hair that is in need of a haircut. Heās hunched over a cracked iPod, looking over the recent responses to his conversation with Ace and Calliope. āUhā¦ Im wearing a blue shirt? N ive got my froggie with me so..ā
It takes Ace a bit, but she eventually finds a kid with a shock of red hair thatās clutching on to the aforementioned plushie. Tucking the phone into her pocket, she calls outĀ āHey, El1?ā The distortion isnāt as bad over it is through text but she still winces as she crosses over.Ā Ā
Getting closer, it hits her justā¦ how small he looks. He barely looks eleven, and her gut wrenches in a way it hasnāt for a while as she comes to a stop in front of him.
āHell, k1dā¦ you look like youāre in need of m0re than a few hugs.āĀ
He looks up, startled at the sound of his name. āAce??!ā He excitedly asks, scrambling up to his feet. He moves as if to hug her, but stops himself at the last minute, glancing away. āAre- are you sure about this..?ā He asks, clutching his frog even tighter.
āTh@tās my name, donāt-ā She pauses with the well-worn joke as she watches Eli hesitate. In the back of her mind, thereās a little thought thatās promising to actually fight whoever told this kid he wasnāt worth any amount of effort.Ā
Instead, Ace wraps an arm around him as gently as she can, offering a hug that he can shrug off if heās not comfortable.Ā āIām very, v3ry sure. Well, we all @re. Weāre a big fam1ly, and youāll fit right in. You wonāt b3 a bother at all, I promise.ā Come to think of it, theyād probably welcome Eli and his all-around bubbliness.
He shudders a bit at the touch, leaning into her as he closes his eyes. āMmmkayā¦if you say so..ā he mumbles, anxious at the thought of being around people, sure that theyāll all hate him soon after they meet him. He practically melts against Aceās side, happy to have someone touch him without the intent to harm him.
āWhoās this friend that ām gonna be withā¦? N whoāreā¦. the rest of the people..?ā He asks with his eyes still shut.
As Eli leans into the hug, Aceās cold, shriveled heart melts just a bit as well, as if it hadnāt already, and she wraps the other arm around him as well.Ā āWell- th3reās a bunch, but youāll probably see Kit, Gabriel, and W1ll most often. Gabrielās the buddy I menti0ned; her nā Kit are definitely the mom fr1ends of all of us, theyāre the gentlest, but Gabriel tends t0 be moreā¦ energetic. Willās just a chaotic fucker who m0stly means well.āĀ
As Ace talks and hugs Eli, she pulls the shadows around them, and then gently tugs them both out of the shadows rather quickly; theyāre both now back in the town sheād left not too long ago.Ā
ā1tās not too far from here, actually.āĀ
He stumbles as they are brought out of the shadows, impossibly leaning closer to Ace. āWha-what was that???? It was kinda- kinda cool-ā he says, looking around at this new location. He hasnāt stopped his death grip on froggie- instead, itās gotten impossibly tighter, knuckles turning white as he tried not to show how nervous he was.
Remembering that he should respond to their rundown, he quickly adds on āthey sound- really cool n nice!ā Forcing a smile as he said it.
Itās hard for her to not feel the anxiety rolling off of Eli in waves. Ace begins walking them both down the street, to one of the houses with the lights on and doors open. Maybe if they got this over with, heād see that they genuinely would not hate him- though she does keep a surprisingly gentle arm around him to hopefully help soothe the anxiety some.Ā
āThatāsā¦ l3tās call it one of the perks of being a demon. Makes trav3l hella easy.ā And hunts very fun. Her voice softens as she comments āTh3y are very loving. S0metimes theyāre t0o gentl3 for their own good, thoughā¦ āĀ
They reach the house, and Ace hums to Eli āThisās where we stay. Y0u good, Bubbles?ā Sheās not about to throw him into new territory without at least making sure he was prepared.Ā
The house isā¦ not too quiet, judging by the faint conversations going on between the inhabitants drifting out the open door.Ā
He takes a deep breath, bringing his hand up to bite at his fingers, moving his frog to rest in the crook of his arm. āThatās really cool..! And Iāmā¦ fine, I guess. Thisā¦itāll be fine!!!ā He forces a smile before chewing his nails further. He looks around, taking in the house and the surroundings, making note of places to hide for when he inevitably was kicked out for doing something wrong.
āHey. Eli, buddy. Y0uāre gonna be fine, alright?ā She watches him, brow furrowing with concern, before she leads them both into the house. May as well get the anxiety-inducing event over with, right? Thereās not really a chance for Ace to call out as they enter, as Will flickers into existence in the room, takes one look at them, and flickers out.Ā
Moments later, alerted by Will, Gabriel- noticeably shorter and softer around the edges than Ace- pops into the room, and blinks in surprise as she looks at Eli.Ā āHey, hello, n welcome?ā Thereās a note of curiosity in her voice.
Ace explains after a momentĀ āGabriel, th1s is Eli. Heās g01ng through s0me rough shit, and 1 remembered you mentioned your doors were pretty much always open.ā Understanding lights up Gabrielās expression, and she turns to Eli once more.Ā
āYou got that right-āĀ
Kit also enters but she remains by the doorway, wary of Ace as much as she is worried for this new kid.Ā āYou look like youāre in need of a lot of rest, hun. Gabe, donāt overwhelm him right at the start.āĀ
Eli follows Ace in, and stares at the place Will appeared and disappeared into, before startling at the appearance of Gabriel and Kit. He steps to hide mostly behind Ace, biting down on his nails and causing a bit of blood to well up before pulling them out of his mouth. āHi-!ā He nervously says, giving a little wave at the two before shrinking back into his shell. His anxiety is clear to all, as he waits for them to point out his flaws. āThank you for- for letting me stay Iām sorry to be an inconvenience-ā he says, before wrapping his arms around his midsection in a facsimile of a hug.
Ace opens her mouth, but Gabriel beats her to the punch, a worried note entering her voice. āYouāre all good! Youāre not inconveniencing anybody; we all actually gladly welcome new additions to our disaster family.ā
She walks up to them but pauses in front of them, noting that Ace very deliberately doesnāt move from between them and Eli until heās comfortable enough, although Ace does turn to loop an arm around Eli in a hug.
āSe3? Nobodyās bothered by y0u here. 1 promise youāre gonna be fine, Eli.ā
Gabriel adds on with a little laugh in an attempt to ease his nerves āI promise none of us bite. We just hug- a lot.ā Which was a massive understatement, in Aceās opinion, but she merely hums in agreement.
Shifting to the side to press against Aceās side instead of hiding directly behind her, he lets out a small giggle at Gabrielās joke. āThat- thatāll be a big change for me,ā he says, giving Gabriel a small smile. His death grip on his frog has loosened a little bit, however Ace can feel small tremors running through his body occasionally as she holds him. He takes a peek at Kit in the doorway, giving her a small smile as well.
Ace rubs his back a bit; she figures itās going to take a while for him to fully relax around them, but so far, so good. Gabriel grins brightly, reaching out to ruffle Eliās hair carefully. āSounds like a good change?
From where Kit stands, she notes the glance in her direction, and offers a smile in return as she hums āHey, sweetheart. Do you want to go clean up and Iāll put something on to cook in the meantime?ā Sheās got her priorities straight; welcome the kid, make sure heās comfortable.
He startled a bit, not used to the friendly touch, but quickly decides he likes hair ruffles. He gives another, brighter smile at Gabriel, saying āyeah uh- a very good change.ā When his attention his drawn to Kit, however, his smile fades as heās faced with a question. He glances back at Ace for guidance, before giving Kit a small, hesitant nod. āThatādā¦ thatād be nice?ā He responds. He hasnāt had a shower in a long time, and heās in desparate need of a change of clothes.
Ace nods encouragingly when she sees Eli look back at her, although ultimately here, the decisions would lay with Eli. Apparently not something he was used to? Which was another concerning layer on this situation-
Nodding, Kit glances at Ace. āShe can show you where everything is, then; and we should have some extra hoodies and whatnot for you.ā At this, Gabriel disappears to find said extra hoodies and whatnot with a playful salute, and Kit continues āIāll whip something up in the meantime; want anything specifically?ā
He watches Gabriel leave before answering Kit, pushing closer to Ace. āI donātā¦ wanna take anything away from anyoneā¦ā his voice gets quieter as he trails off, knowing that he really needs a change of clothes but still nervous at it. His stomach grumbles loud enough for all to hear right before he says āand uhā¦ whateverās easiest for you to make I donāt wanna bother youā¦ā He trailed off once more, squeezing his frog for a second.
Yikes. Not the intended reaction, Kit thinks.Ā
Ace runs her hand through Eliās hair again, murmuring softly āW3 all swap h0odies nā shit so much that adding you to the mix aināt gonna b3 a bother, Eli.āĀ She adds after a moment of thought āKit loves to cook- itās pretty much how she shows her l0ve in this house- so itās not a trouble.ā Kit finishes with a soft, worriedĀ āYou know that youāre not burdening anybody by asking for something, right?āĀ
He looks between the two of them, his face screwed up. He canāt believe what theyāre saying, that heās not a burden to them. He came into their house, and theyāre already attempting to take better care of him than heās ever had. Shaking his head, he tells them what he knows is the truth- āIām burdening everyone with my existence- but- donāt worry about it m fine just. Whatever you wanna do is fine with meā¦ā he looks at the ground, shrinking into himself and waiting for their anger to hit for disagreeing with them.
Kit clasps and unclasps her hands, a heavy sense of worry andĀ āDear god, what has happened to this childā settling in her gut. A soft crackling noise breaks through the silence as Will reappears by them, carefully studying Eli. Ace shoots him a look that threatens to ram another iron blade into his good shoulder if he pulls anything, but for once, Will looks dead serious with no intents for any pranks.Ā
Heās likely heard enough to figure that right now, that wasā¦ a relatively bad idea. Also, could you imagine scaring this kid? Heād probably fuckinā apologize for that.
āā¦I mean. You do know that if they wouldāve thought you were a burden, they wouldnāt have picked you up, right? Because thatād be a hell of a cruel joke to play on someone in the first place, and Ace has better things to do with her time than that kind of thing.āĀ
Eli flinches back at Wills appearance, staring wide eyed at him. āHowād you-ā he starts, before Wills words sink in. āIā¦guess? But-ā he cuts himself off, looks frustrated and shaking his head. āM sorry..ā he mumbles, thinking that the group is going to get mad at him for being frustrating. Looking down, his stomach lets out another loud rumble, setting off another bright red blush.
Will shrugs.Ā āAināt nothing to be sorry for. You get told one thing long enough, it takes a while to believe something else.ā He glances at Ace and Kit when he says this, and shrugs, before he disappears yet again.Ā
Ace gets the message pretty clearly, and she gently ruffles Eliās hair.Ā āJust b3 gentle with yourself, kiddo. Letās go clean up and get y0u some food? You s0und hungry.āĀ Ā
He takes second glance at the spot will just vacated, before looking at Ace as he leans into her hand. āThat would beā¦ really niceā¦..thank you.ā He says, adding on the last bit in a softer voice. He leans into her for one more second before stepping back to let her lead the way.
They meet Gabriel on their way there, and she hands the extra clothing off to Ace before disappearing into the kitchen, where the chaos seems to be centred this time as Will decides to lend a hand to dinner. Ignoring it, Ace leads them to the bathroom.Ā
When they get there, she takes a look around, remembering where all the spare towels were as she goes ahead and gets the water running so it has time to warm up.Ā
āUh, closet, bottom shelf should have everything yāneed. Towels, soap, take your pick. If you need anything, Iām going to be down the hall with whatever clusterfuckās in the kitchen.āĀ
Watching Ace retreat back down the hallway, Eli clutches his frog and turns back to the bathroom, taking a deep breath and steeling himself before getting in the shower.
After his shower, he emerges from the bathroom in his borrowed clothes, holding his bundle of clothing close. He hesitantly pads down the hall to the kitchen, following the sounds of chaos. Peeking his head around the doorway, he waited for someone to see him, not wanting to interrupt anything important.
Gabriel, hanging around the edges of the kitchen as Ace gets revenge on Will for having a little holy water accidentally dumped on her, is first to spot Eli. She hops on over, humming brightlyĀ āHey, kiddo! Found everything alright?āĀ
Kit, apparently not minding the argument too much as itās just one of those things common to Ace and Willās tentative friendship, waves at him a bit from where sheās keeping an eye on the soup.
Jumping at being noticed so quickly, he looks at Gabriel with wide eyes. āYeah uh- best thing Iāve had in a while, honestly!ā He said, scratching the back of his neck and watching Ace. His hair is sticking up everywhere, looking somehow fluffier than before, and heās practically drowning in the hoodie they gave him. āAre theyā¦ is Ace mad at will?ā He asks Gabriel, looking at her worriedly. āThey wonāt hurt each other, right?ā
āHey, good to- well, hear that everything went well.ā Something like concern crosses her expression as she processes what he said before she hears him ask the next question- which, well, was a good question.Ā
She squints momentarily at the spat, before shrugging and shaking her head as she looks back at Eli.Ā āNah. She might be annoyed right now, but sheās not gonna do anything to him. Give them a minute and theyāll stop being dumbasses.āĀ
A beat passes and she reaches out to fluff his hair gently, hummingĀ āJeez, itās like a literal cloud.āĀ
āIf youāre sureā¦ā he trails off, before giggling at the sudden fluff. āIs not!!ā He exclaims, and yet he leans into the head pat instead of flinching away. He holds up his bundle of dirty clothes āwhat should I do with this..?ā He asks, keeping an eye on the chaos still happening. As he says that, his stomach lets out another loud grumble to inform him and everyone in the household that he was hungry.
āWe can run that through the wash! I can get on that-ā She pauses when she hears his stomach grumble, and then asks āHey, Kitkat? Whenās that gonna be ready?āĀ
The answer, they find out, is in a few minutes, and Gabriel hums with acknowledgment. By now, Will has disappeared out of Aceās reach, and Gabriel takes the opportunity to whisper-shoutĀ āAce. Hey- Hey Ace- Eliās gotten even fluffier-āĀ
Ace is on the verge of saying thatās impossible, takes a look, and blinks.Ā ā1 thought it was physically impossible f0r you to be softer. Guess I was wr0ng?āĀ
āAm not fluffy!!! Or soft!!ā He exclaims, laughing. His false anger just proves his statement incorrect as he mock pouts at both Ace and Gabriel. As he hands his clothes off he fidgets anxiously with his hands, having put his frog in the hoodie pocket and not entirely sure what to do with his hands now that theyāre free. He looks over to see what Kit is cooking, looking forward to what will probably be the best meal heās had in his life.
āY0uāre the living definit1on of a soft b3an. S0rry, but 1 donāt think we make the rules her3.ā Ace ruffles his hair gently as Gabriel disappears to add his clothes to the load. In the meantime, Kit begins pouring the soup into bowls before setting them on the table.
āJust about good! Ace, mind finding the bread?ā Thereās a meme reference there for the taking, somewhere, but thatās more Gabriel and Willās forte. She just gives a casual thumbs up and moves to do so.Ā
He mock pouts at ace before giggling as his meme senses tingle.
āYou gotta get that bread, gamerā he says, before hesitantly moving over to the table and waiting for someone else to sit down, so he could follow their example. As he waits, he flips his sweater paws around just a little bit, giggling at the action.
Ace swears she can hear both Gabriel and Willās memer radar ping and shakes her head with a laugh. She pulls the bread out and joins Eli at the table, with Gabriel sliding in moments later as she chirpsĀ āSheās obtained the grain! Also, sweaterpaws combined with your natural beanness is fucking adorable.āĀ
Kit shoots her a disapproving glance at the language, and Gabriel sighs as she humsĀ āSwear jar later, alright.āĀ Ā
āYāall have a heckin swear jar????ā He asks, screwing his face up, as he thought that was something fictional, that was just in books and tv shows and not something real families did. He chose to ignore the remark about his beanness, not wanting to further argue when heās only here because they took pity on him. He looks anxiously at Ace, waiting to follow her lead on what to do, when to eat, and everything in between.
Stifling a giggle, Gabriel nods as she digs into the soup.Ā āYeah; Kit says Iām a bad influence on everybody and thatās her way of trying to keep the swearing down to a minimum.ā Kit hums in agreement as she joins them at the table.Ā
Ace is cautiously tasting the soup and liking it judging by how sheās beginning to steadily wolf it down when she catches Eliās gaze. The anxietyās pretty obvious, and she frowns a bit.Ā āHey, k1ddo. Everyth1ng alright?āĀ
āThatās really weirdā he says before beginning to eat, keeping an eye out to make sure it wouldnāt be taken away from him. He eats fast, almost worryingly so, gulping down spoonful after spoonful. At Aces question he looks up, hunching back a little ām fine! Donāt worry bout me..ā he says before going back to his soup. He finishes at about the same time as Ace, having made sure he would be able to watch her to see what he was supposed to do after finishing.
