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if you are what you eat, then
i only want to eat the good stuff

──● remy
RATATOUILLE

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Elijah likes Valentine's Day - enough, anyway. He doesn't hate it, despite the fact that he's typically pestered by an ugly amount of confessions and boxes of chocolate. Sometimes it's flattering, and he really can't complain about the attention, but most often it feels insincere. Elijah is very aware of the fact he comes from money, and money, whether he likes it or not attracts people.

Very, very, entitled people.

But he'll smile, and accept the gifts and confessions with a polite smile, and as easily as he could manage let them down. Most of the time they deserved someone to knock them down a peg, and on occassion, Elijah didn't mind being that person. Especially the mean girls, and boys sometimes, who acted all year as if they were better than anyone else. 

Better than Sage.

He wasn't going to sit here and lie and say that the two girl's faces - the one's who mocked Sage's weight in the back of their chemistry glass - when he flippantly told them he didn't even know their names didn't make him happy. Okay, maybe not happy, but it brought him a settling feeling of rich satisfaction at knowing that they might feel an ounce of what they made Sage feel almost constantly.

Sage had never said anything about it, so most of the time Elijah ignored it, but he noticed every time they crept a little closer to her weight with their insults, she looked a little stiffer than she had before, shifting in her seat as if that would magically make any body fat she had dissapear. It left a bitter taste in his mouth, but he hadn't said anything to them in class over it this far, and he didn't want to make it any worse for Sage, so he left it alone. At least, for now.

Sometimes this school was suffocating. 

Seeing Sage at the end of every day helped, but Elijah was in a good mood today, and he'd brought something to share with his Lab partner. Raine had helped him with it, and Elijah was looking forward to boasting about what a chef he was. Absently, he wondered if Sage knew how to cook. He was sure she did somewhat, but to what level, exactly.

The hallways were clamoring, as they most often were here, and Elijah wormed his way towards his classroom, thinking about earlier that morning. The siblings he had that had significant others were chatting about gifts and dates and things, while the others daydreamed about crushes, or technical boyfriends (in Jasiri's and Akiho's cases). Dexter had surprised Raine in the middle of breakfast, with an extravagant set of flowers, and two tickets to some private beach somewhere for their anniversary once spring settled in. Raine had assured them that she would still be here for Mother's Day, as all of the siblings' head turned (including Elijah's) to ask that very question.

With a somewhat secret smile hidden on his face, Elijah pushed open the door to Chemistry, already seeing Sage settle in. She was always here before him. It's not like he was surprised by it, Sage had always been very punctual. Said something about it making her anxious to be late - and her father had always said five minutes early, was five minutes late.

He wasn't exactly sure what the meaning in that was for, but Sage apparently lived by it, and it didn't really affect him. Even if it had, somehow, he thought it was a pretty decent motto to live by.

Whatever it didn't really matter, because Sage looked gorgeous today. Her red hair was curled, half up in some kind of flower bun in the back. She was wearing a black turtleneck with a deep red skirt that hung just above her knees, and tall black lace-up boots. Her eyebrows were once again furrowed in that cute way that showed she was concentrating on something, an action that Elijah was grateful for, otherwise he'd have been caught staring.

Now, it's not like he'd never seen Sage in a dress before, he had. And it stopped him in his tracks every, single, fucking time. She usually dressed in loose clothing, something more monochrome and anti-climatic. Elijah had deduced it was from the snide little comments coming from the two girls in the back. So every time she was in a dress, it meant a few things. One, that she was feeling more confident about her body today, and two, the comments would very likely get worse. He hoped they wouldn't. Not only would it distract him from the chapter on kinetics and thermodynamics, it would also very likely cause Sage once again to return to her old clothing.

Not that there was anything wrong with it, but Elijah knew that she only really wore it because she didn't want to get commented on. 

It didn't take him more than a moment to slide into his seat, and by the time he did, Sage was turning to him, holding a box towards him. It was small, and wrapped in old strips of newspaper. Curiously, he raised his eyebrow at her, but she managed to stop any thought process or theory from even occuring. "Don't be dumb, can you just open it? I thought you'd like it."

"Wow, a please might be nice."

"Don't be a prick, Elijah." Her face wrinkled at him, but her tone betrayed her, anxiety pulsing through it as her eyes trailed back towards the gift. Petulantly, as he always was with Sage, he stuck out his tongue at her before his own analyzing gaze turned to the small object in his hands. The newspaper was quick to remove, left in its place a small cardboard box. Inside that, was a dark grey banded ring, speckles of crystalized sliver worming its way through it. It looked rough, but the outside was smooth, covered in some kind of resin to prevent wear and tear.

Elijah looked up to Sage's face, reading the concern in her features before just huffing. "What is it?"

Her gaze flattened "A ring, asshole - because you wear them? Like a lot?"

Ignoring the searing warmth in his chest at the realization that Sage noticed his habits and things about the same as he noticed hers, he rolled his eyes. "No, I got that, I mean why?"

"Because it's graphite, and I thought of you when I saw it." She huffed, turning back to her bag to remove her textbook from her bag. "You know, because diamonds actually slowly, spontaneously decompose into graphite, so technically, graphite is forever." She said it without looking over at him, plopping the thick book on the table before glancing shortly back over at him. "Look, if you don't want it, I'll give it to someone else."

"Back off Fallon, it's mine, I'm keeping it forever." He snatched it to his chest, scowling right back at her before sliding it onto his index finger. It fit like a glove. Forgoing the sudden rush of whatever euphoric feeling was rising inside of him, he quickly remembered his own gift. Reaching down to his own bag, he pulled out a small container, setting it in front of her.

Elijah didn't bother hiding the smile on his face when she turned to look at him quizzically, his grin turning smug. "I made something for you because I'm so much more original than just buying something."

Again, Sage's eyes flattened into a glare, her mouth twisting as she huffed under her breath. "Dick."

"Cocksucker."

"You wish." Sage opened the container, looking over the contents before glancing back up at Elijah, "What is it exactly?"

"Kaju Katli, it's an Indian desert, and not to brag, but I'm pretty great at making them." That was a lie, but Sage didn't need to know that Elijah and Raine had spent hours crafting the perfect batch for him to take to school. 

Sage, true to her nature, picked one up after rolling her eyes at him. "Prick."

"Ooh, you already used that one today."

"Shut up." Sage reached over, flicking him with her unoccupied hand before returning to the desert. Elijah pretended to gather his own things for class when she took a bite, subtly glancing over at her.

When her eyes lit up at the taste, he quickly found he couldn't look away.

"Oh my god." The words were muffled, but Sage took another bite anyway, letting out a satisfactory humm at the taste. Pride swelled up his chest, setting his arm on the desk to prop up his head, watching her. Sage slumped in her seat, sighing happily as she took another bite.

Behind them, somewhere, there was a snorting sound. Elijah didn't really hear them, but Sage must have, because she straightened suddenly. The swell of affection and pride in his chest was rudely inturrupted by irritation, and a renewed annoyance at the two girls who had apparently taken his rejection of them very badly. 

Sage attempted to ignore them, picking up another piece, taking a bite before adding, "These are horrible Elijah, you should have gotten me a better present." It was obvious she was enjoying this one just fine, but he decided to play along, if only for the peace of his own mind.

"Yeah?" He adjusted his hand on the table, propping it so his head could face her entirely, "Like what, Fallon?"

"Mm, I guess you're right, you do have very few talents."

"Hey."

"Don't be a baby." Her laugh was a little bit lighter, nibbling at her second pastry.

Like a child might, Elijah collapsed his arms on the table, squinting at her. "You're so mean to me." Sage shrugged, stifling another laugh as she shook her head at his antics. The sight eased the biting irritation in his stomach, threatening to snap. "What should I have gotten you then?"

"Well, since you're such a prince, I don't suppose you could kiss me and turn into a frog - that'd be a great present, to be rid of your presence forever."

Before he could respond, there was a breach of laughter in the air, and the valley-girl, snot-nosed, shit-faced, brats, we're once again talking. Loud enough for the entire room to hear. "Aww, little miss piggy wants a kiss?" There was the snorting sound again, and Elijah realized in horror what they'd been mocking the entire time. Sage's face went dark red, and her eyes remained trained on the now frozen pastry.

"While she's shoving her face? How attractive-"

"As if Elijah would ever kiss her fatass."

There was that snorting sound again, mocking her eating, her weight, her everything. First of all, Elijah wouldn't have cared if Sage was plus-size, but she wasn't. Sage wasn't plus-size, and to insinuate that anything above a fucking size zero was so-called unacceptable to society for woman made him sick. Second of all, fat isn't a bad word, and for them to think he was so shallow as if that mattered to him made him pissed.

But it hurt a little more to turn back to Sage, watching her eyes hollow out, and slowly put down the pastry she'd been enjoying only moments before. She wouldn't look at him, looking at her press-on nails, redone to match her skirt once again.

God, it was infuriating.

Fine. He'd show them.

"Sage." His voice was soft, and Elijah kept it that way, waiting for her eyes to turn to him, dull and subdued. She did, and he didn't waste a moment of time. He was close enough to reach up, hand gliding up her neck to cup the side of her face, brushing a thumb over her cheek, so that's exactly what he did. Elijah stood up then, slowly looking towards the two girls in the back, who'd now fallen silent, eyes trained on both of them. Deliberately, and lowly, he spoke to them. "Shut, the fuck, up." They were now staring at him in shock, mouths lolling open as he looked back at Sage. She was staring at him wide-eyed now, and his thumb again brushed over her cheek in that soft, soothing motion. He lowered his mouth to her's, just hovering over it, and whispered - softer than he'd ever spoken. "You can tell me no."

Her hands tightened on his shirt in response, where they'd gone to rest against his chest. She didn't move, and Elijah took that for his answer, and kissed her. 

Her lips were soft and smooth, the lingering taste of Kaji Katli written on them. Slowly, Elijah pulled away, ignoring the rush of heat pulsating at his chest, and burning glares of those two girls he couldn't remember the names of. Whatever. It didn't matter. He sat back down after scooting his chair a little closer to Sage's, reaching over to pick up the forgotten pastry. "You're right Fallon, I did a good job." In true Elijah fashion, that easy, charming smile worked it's way up his own mouth as he raised the treat to Sage's once again. "Open." Sage's cheeks were flushed pink, staring at him, her eyes still wide, but she did as she was told, and Elijah popped the rest of the remaining sweet into her mouth, then patted Sage's cheek. "Good girl."

Elijah looked back again, only to find the wonderful sight that everyone had returned to what they'd been doing before, and those two girls were red themselves, hopefully from the embarrassment of their assumptions. Gleefully, he looked back at his work, scanning the pages for the chapters they were covering today.

It was only moments later that Mr. Harrow threw open the door, once again apologizing for being late, and quickly scrambling to gather all of this things, rapidly explaining that his husband had decided to take him out for lunch, and time had gotten away from them. Waving away whatever explanation he was going to offer, he jumped right into the lesson.

The class was quiet for the most part that day, Sage included. Elijah didn't comment much on it, although something sinister began worming its way through his thoughts. As much as he did to hold them off, something unsettling gutted him from the inside out.

Why is Sage being so quiet?

No, this was fine. Elijah looked up, scanning the question on the board before rapidly copying it down into his notebook. Mr. Harrow did allow for computers and laptops, but he said the best thing for chemistry would likely be paper because of the annoyance of putting functions into the keyboard and still being able to keep up. 

Did I upset her?

The questions weren't overly difficult, which was typical for Elijah if he was being honest. It was good for one reason, and bad for another. Good because he liked knowing what he was doing at all times. it made him feel better knowing that he was perfectly capable. Bad, because it didn't distract him enough from the lingering thoughts.

Should I say something?

Even if he had wanted to say something, what would he have said? Grumblingly, he erased the incorrect answer from his question, sighing internally at the fact that he was currently distracted by the silence his partner was giving him. It wasn't the usual silence they'd fall into either, it was an uncomfortable one, and he could feel the rapid glances that Sage kept giving him.

I should say something.

But before he could, Sage had snatched up her bag, and all of her work, and was out the door. Leaving Elijah in the classroom, staring at his own half-done sheet of work in exasperation, and the promise of a very lonely Valentines. 

✦

✦ OPHELIA ✦

- this chapter is dedicated
to the fact that I did a 
good job on my chem 
exam -- channeling 
elijah fr fr

- hope you enjoyed this
chapter, lemme know
how you like sage !

what would your character do on valentine's ?

──● answers