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you've got a friend in me

──● genie
ALADDIN

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For the love of God, Elijah could not believe some of his siblings. Not one of them - not a single one laughed at his chemistry joke this morning. At the very least, usually one of them would humor him, but not today apparently. Elijah knows that if Raine had been there, she would have, but she hadn't been, and his siblings had just stared at him blankly for a moment. 

It had put him in a bitter mood for the entire day.

He was probably just being sensitive, but he didn't really care honestly. There were twelve of them, surely one other person would have thought it'd be funny. But no, heaven forbid Elijah Morrigan say something funny enough for his siblings to laugh.

He really shouldn't have gotten too down about it, he could charm his way through pretty much anyone else, but his siblings often saw right through him. The only comfort he did take was knowing that Yume hadn't been there this morning, he didn't have a doubt that she would have laughed, even if she hadn't gotten it (which she seldom did), but it would have made him feel better regardless.

A.P. Chemistry was his last class of the day, which was nice and not nice at the same time. Nice because he enjoyed Chemistry for the most part, and it was good to end with it, not nice because he had to wait through countless other mind-numbing classes to get here. 

By the time he stepped through the door, he could already see his lab partner settling in her seat, bag on her lap as she dug through it to gather all of the items needed for the period. Still hanging onto to the dissapointment of this morning, he trudged over to his chair beside Sage, dropping his bag on the table before sitting down.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her look towards him, then shook her head slightly, turning back to her bag as a small smile wormed its way over freckled features. "Oh, someone's moody."

"I'm not moody." Oh, he very much was, but like he said, it didn't really matter. It'd been a stupid joke anyway, it's not like it meant that much to him if his siblings found him funny or smart or whatever else. It didn't matter what anyone else thought of him. Especially his siblings.

Strange how it sounded even less convincing in his head. Sage turned her head towards him again, setting her bag aside and reaching back to pull auburn hair away from her face. "Yeah, okay, and i'm pregnant."

There was a snort somewhere behind the both of them, and some indistinct whispering. Elijah and Sage ignored it for the most part, and instead he looked back at her, mockingly grinning. "Oh wow, have you found out the sex yet?"

Sage, haughtily turned back to her bag, adjusting her textbook and flipping it open to locate the pages, using the edges of her cheap press on nails. Elijah only knew they were the press-on kind, because she'd sometimes lose them in class. Sage said it was because they were doing lab work, but something told him that it wasn't the only reason. "I want it to be a surprise I think."

"And who's the father?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" She sent him a scolding glance, fingers trailing across the index to find the correct page for the chapter they were at. "Maybe it's someone from your baseball team."

"Yeah as if any of the baseball team would pay attention to her." It was the same voices who'd made the last comment, but once again, Sage ignored them. Elijah followed suit. He wasn't really sure who they were, but clearly they had plenty of their own insecurities to be targeting Sage, who honestly seemed like she didn't give a shit about whatever comments were made about her. Or maybe she did - but Elijah didn't really think it was his place to do much about it, so he wouldn't make any acknowledgement of the whispering witches behind him as long as Sage didn't.

Instead, Sage played off the long-winded joke. "Seriously though, you are acting moody." She turned to him, flipping to the page of the chapter she'd located. "What's wrong, you only got two love confessions today instead of your daily three?"

"Are you saying there's something wrong with that Fallon?"

"Not particularly, I'm just wondering if that's what upset you."

"No." He half scowled at her, eyes wandering back to the door. Their teacher was always a couple minutes late, but no one really cared, he was great, and honestly made Chemistry a lot of fun. Elijah relented, feeling Sage's eyes on him. "I told a great joke at breakfast today, and nobody laughed."

"Well, was it funny?"

"Yes." Elijah crossed his arms over his chest, sighing exasperatingly. "Of course it was funny, I wouldn't have said it if it wasn't."

"One of your chemistry jokes then?" Sage's response came without hesitation, and the fact that she already knew what kind of joke it was made Elijah feel somehow more hurt. He was funny, his chemistry jokes were funny, some people were just too stupid to get them.

"Maybe." He grumbled, slumping into his chair.

"Let's hear it then."

Elijah half perked up, looking over at her "Really?" Sage sent him a cursory glance, telling him in silence to get on with it. He just huffed, sitting up in his chair. "Okay then, ready?"

"Elijah."

"What did one mixture say to the other?" He resisted the urge to smile, keeping his face carefully blank as Sage raised her eyebrow at him expectantly. 

"What?"

"I think you're over-reacting." To Elijah's delight, he saw Sage's eyes brighten slightly, pursing her lips as a stifled laugh escaped her mouth. She slapped a hand over it, shaking her head at him.

"Oh my God-" Another muted giggle. "Oh my God, that's so bad." She shook her head slightly, shifting where she was sitting as her subdued laughter trailed off, "No wonder they didn't laugh."

"Yeah, but you did." And maybe it did make him feel a little better if he was being completely honest. She bit back her smile, shaking her head as Elijah sat up again in his chair, feeling a little bit better now. It didn't take him long to get his own items out, flipping to the page just in time. The bell rang above them, echoing down the hallways, and at last the door was thrown open by their hurried teacher.

Fredrick Harrow had to be one of the youngest teachers in school, at least he looked like it. He always looked a little anxious, a little high-strung and rushed, but he really was an excellent Chemist - Elijah still finds it a little surprising that he choose to teach high-school rather than go on and do something else. He even asked him once, and Mr. Harrow had told him that he was closer to his husband here, and he worked at one of the fashion colleges not too far away. It made it easier on both of them - and he liked working here anyway.  

As expected, he offered a short winded apology, gathering his things and placing them out across the counters accordingly before looking up at all of them. Beside him, Sage straightened, her eyebrows furrowing as they often did when she was preparing to concentrate on something. He smiled, still holding that little amount of laughter that he'd gotten out of her to his chest, and looked forward just as the lecture began. 

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"psst-" Sage's whisper penetrated his thoughts, but apparently he didn't turn fast enough, because he felt the poke of her pencil against his arm, "Elijah- hey-"

"Jesus Christ, what?" he turned to her, looking up from the homework he'd already almost finished. Chemistry did go fast as long as you knew what you were doing, and most fortunately, Elijah almost always knew what he was doing. It was very rare of him not to be able to figure something mathmatical out - yes, sometimes it did take a little bit, but he always got it eventually. If Elijah couldn't get it, there often wasn't much hope for the rest of the class. At least the one he was in now, he wasn't sure how the other classes we're faring, but somehow he'd gotten people who didn't want to be in this class at all, or didn't care enough to try - which was one of the most irritating things in the world to him to say the least.

"I need your help with this problem - I'm using the integrated rate law, but I keep getting the wrong constant." She paused "At least, I think it's wrong, it doesn't make a lot of sense." Sage shifted over her paper, scooting closer to him.

"What makes you think i'll help you?" Elijah scoffed at her, but already he was looking down at the paper, tracing her individual calculations. Honestly, if there was anyone on par with him in this class, it was probably Sage. Even if she did struggle sometimes, it wasn't unwarrented, and it wasn't for lack of trying. She took some of the most detailed notes he'd ever seen. He'd missed a class last month because he'd gotten a call from the office that his sister was being taken away in an ambulance, so he'd skipped the class altogether to ride with Jady. Elliot had been there too, but he wasn't an adult, and it'd be easier if someone liable was actually there. Sage had to be the only person he trusted enough to get notes from. They had been organized and color-coded, and it'd made deciphering them much easier than it probably would have been if it had been anybody else.

Sage ignored his jab, looking over the paper as well, pointing to the question with her matte nails. They were different then the ones yesterday, he noted. Yesterday she'd been wearing a deep kind of red, but today it was pastel blue. Shaking his thoughts away, he returned his attention to the more pressing matter -- proving he was smarter than Sage of course. 

It only took a moment for Elijah to realize the problem. He frowned slightly, glancing up to see Sage's furrowed eyebrows, face scrunched up and looking at the worksheet like she had a personal vendetta against it. Cute. Trailing his eyes back down, he brought his own hand up to point out the problem, "Look, you're treating it like a first-order problem, but the equation is second order, so we'd need to use the integrated rate law specifically for second order chemical equations."

Sage's eyes had flicked up to his for a moment, before returning to the paper. Then hesitantly she looked back up, her smile more sheepish than anything else. "Which one would that be again..?" Elijah's gaze flatted at her, and she crossed her arms over her chest in defense, sighing exasperatingly as crystalline eyes glared back down at the sheet of problems scoldingly. "I'm fine with half-lives on second and first order, I don't understand why the rate laws give me such a hard time."

"Well, don't beat yourself up, not everyone can be as intelligent as I am." As Elijah retorted, he glanced around the room, in search of an empty whiteboard to use against the wall. Maybe it'd be easier if Sage saw someone work out the problem, that way she could see what was catching her. Before Sage could manage her probably mediocre response, he found one, hand snapping to her wrist, his other hand grabbing her worksheet, and dragging her towards it. He could hear the brief protest she managed, and the muttering of apologies as they wormed their way towards the empty whiteboard, but they got there unscathed. He turned to see Sage frowning up again, hands on her hips.

"You could of at least told me where we were going."

"Oh sorry, I must have over-estimated your deduction skills, or you know, your levels of common sense." He smiled mockingly turning to the board to pick up a marker. "Won't happen again."

Sage scowled, but stood up beside him, glancing at him as Elijah looked between the board and the paper, scribbling down the problem as fast as he could. It's not like he had a class after this, and Mr.Harrow usually didn't mind if he stayed a little to work on a problem, but he had practice, and his shoulder had been bothering him a little. It wasn't hurt, and Elijah wasn't dumb enough to play with it if it was, but it felt tense, and stretching it wouldn't make it worse certainly. He felt Fallon's eyes watching his movement, but he finished the problem quickly, writing down the second order of integrated law last.

The problem wasn't difficult, but if you'd been using the wrong law, of course it wouldn't have made sense. Chemistry was a lot like cooking honestly, and if he thought about it, cooking with Raine had only made him better at comprehending chemical equations. It was like a recipe - just take it one step at a time, but keep in mind the overall figment. Elijah stepped back for a moment, looking at the problem, muttering under his breath as the wheels turned in his mind, then began writing down the actual steps the calculation would take, pausing only to explain why he was doing what he was doing to Sage. Sage listened, nodding slowly. He didn't actually end up doing the technical calculations, only writing out the steps she would need to take, before swiping the eraser over the board, and handing her the marker. 

"Your turn."

She rolled her eyes, but swiped it from him, turning back to the board. It wasn't as fast, and Elijah sat on top of a nearby desk, watching her solve the equation like she should. He'd already done the problem on the worksheet - he could have just given her the answer, but that was one of the things he really liked about Sage. She wanted to understand the problem, not just get a point.

Another thing he really liked about her was watching the moment where she realized she understood the problem, and understood her previous mistake. Her eyes would light up just a little, and she'd smile, and shift on her feet, as if she couldn't wait to get the right answer because she'd understood what to do. 

It didn't take long before she whipped around, capping the marker and pointing to the rate constant on the board. "Is that what you got?"

Elijah nodded, standing up to shove his hands in his pockets. "Yep." Then turned again, waiting to hear her footsteps behind him before he headed back to the desk, too tempted to tease her along the way. "If you keep this us, maybe you'll be as smart as me one day." He turned just in time to see Sage roll her eyes, going to her bag to begin to pack up. Something Elijah had already finished with.

"You're such a smart-ass"

"Better than being a dumb one." He shouldered his bag, being sure to carry it on the opposite side. Sage just shook her head as he began to walk out, holding up her middle finger. Elijah just smiled, returning the motion before ducking out of the classroom

And if anyone asked his teammates, he showed up with the same slight smile only minutes later at the indoor field. 

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✦ OPHELIA ✦

- i love elijah 
so much I 
can't help it

- honestly I think its
cause he's so good 
at chemistry and
i'm projecting pretty
hard in this arc ngl

- enjoy <3

how does your character feel about chemistry (the subject) ?

──● answers