Hello! It is the 23rd and I am back to upload this chapter for my best friend Shannon's birthday. In my little break from not upload as frequently, the two of us came up with a brand new character and I think it's safe to say that he's come alive very quickly and vibrantly for us both! Like the name of this chapter suggests, that person is called Eli and he is a relation to Jordan. I'm really looking forward to uploading all of the chapters over the next few months that I've written featuring him. I hope you all enjoy this, but especially you, Shay!
Disclaimer: I own the story and the OCs mentioned!
As all of us that were gathered pulled out our seats and intended to sit down around the dinner table, the orange haired female couldn't help but linger one hand on the back of her chair and push her hair out of her eyes. She then turned to the person taking their seat next to her and gave them a bit of a sheepish smile, speaking in a sincere yet light-hearted voice.
"Once again, I'm sorry about earlier and all that. I feel like I…" Misty began and when she felt the person that she was addressing looking right back at her with well-meaned and receptive but intense eyes, she flustered a little more. She tried to hide it by chuckling to herself, properly taking her seat next to the man and changing her words. She clarified. "I just wasn't expecting to walk into my parent's house and see that."
Everybody else who was gathered in the Morgan Mansion at late evening and who had also taken their own seats chuckled slightly at the words they were hearing but mostly they got on with small talk among themselves. Some of them furrowed their brows confusedly, however!
But the person that Misty was addressing wasn't one of them. The new guest among us all tore his eyes away from fixing on his newly-reunited relative, giving her a grin in return that was equal parts genuine and polite, just like his nieces was. He shook his head and gave her flickering glances as he replied to her, shaking his head and occupying his hands by reaching across the table for the jug of water, helping himself to a refreshment.
"Not at all." The deep violet haired male responded to the younger female in quite a monotone voice and then he added to his words when and only when he'd poured himself half a glass of water and made sure to slide it across the table, making sure everyone else got their turn. Following that he spoke in a more elaborate tone, his voice rising in a way that could be very similar to the person sat on his other side. "It's not every day that you walk into your relative coming out of the shower and wearing your pants!"
Jordan on the left of the man who was also his relative burst into easy-going laughter upon hearing this and from opposite that same man also, the lavender haired male that was James looked up from pouring Lynne a glass of water to chuckle and glance at everyone else around the table but he didn't laugh nearly as much as the yellow haired male.
Misty laughed an amount somewhere between both Jordan and James and I did as well. She briefly looked down at her lap as she remembered the occasion and tried to stop her shoulders shaking when she heard the dark violet haired man clarifying for the rest of the table that it was his fault for not packing nearly as much stuff.
After the orange haired female heard this explanation and she felt me shuffling closer to her on the table, she then looked up and spoke to her newly discovered relative all over again. She added a little bit of her own explanation. And it was there and then that she had almost as much amusement as her yellow haired father as she said these words! She reached out and squeezed Jordan's muscular arm playfully to include him as she spoke of him.
"To be honest, the pants thing wasn't the greatest surprise..." She uttered and she waited until her relative stopped focusing hard on the food that was spread out on the table and looked back at her, his intense yet earnest gaze looking back at her instead. Misty fiddled with her knife and fork to the side of her plate with her other hand as mostly everyone looked at her as she delivered her punchline. "It was finding out that my dad has a cousin that he's been in secret contact with! He can be a man of mystery sometimes. What are you like?"
She spoke of her relative on her father's side that had indeed just been introduced to her and then she turned properly to that yellow haired father of hers and gave his arm an extra squeeze and pummel too. Straight away, everybody chuckled and I did too but then began helping themselves to the spread of food that had been prepared for us all. I allowed Misty to make up a plate for me and she did this after moving her hand away from Jordan, laughing too.
And while his daughter was busy and when he felt his cousin looking over at him, he burst out for everyone to hear, booming in a welcomed way and gesturing his hands. I smiled and couldn't help but take note how it was someone who had had quite a lot of absence that presented a lot of presence in recent years. Jordan seemed to stretch out everywhere.
"I have no secrets! None at all." He began and then he withdrew his arms, using his hands to rub across his own stomach nonchalantly. He returned a gentle smile when he felt Lynne looking at him with love while holding her new baby boy with James close to her and then Jordan added, more mischief taking over his handsome face. He leaned closer to the male relative next to him. "I've known him forever! All his life, in fact. I've mentioned Eli loads and loads. Misty don't fib to impress him."
Jordan uttered with all of the light-heartedness in the world and it was most certainly well received from his daughter. In the middle of piling boiled potatoes and vegetables onto my plate, she took it back briefly to not only give her father a narrow-eyed look but she reached across to steal his glass of water to have a sip from to prove her point!
The yellow haired male didn't care. The yellow haired male didn't care at all. No doubt that although he had kept one of his family members and one of his relationships on the down low for quite a while, now that everyone was being introduced and starting to get to know one and other, he could not be happier.
He had spent years – in fact most of his life – with scars and wounds from his immediate family and even if they weren't intentional then it was due to being harmed by just how much he would do anything to protect a select few of them. So needless to say it was entirely lovely to see him being so carefree and introducing someone from his past to the people who he loved in the present and would be very much part of his future also.
And someone who knew and understood this better than anyone, along with Misty of course was the lavender haired male sitting opposite Eli. He had a fond smirk on his face in between making sure Lynne had everything that she needed next to him and then a mischievous expression took over as he thought about the yellow haired male's words and decided to add to them himself.
His playfulness was far more subtle than Jordan's but it was equally appreciated. He shuffled his seat closer to the table and made sure to gain eye contact with his yellow haired best friend first. After he ended up with Jordan's lingering gaze and Eli's too, he spoke for all to hear but he mostly directed it towards Jordan. And he showed that by reaching across the table and scuffing with his fingers where the yellow haired male's light stubble resided on his chin.
"For someone as loud as you are, Jordan, you've certainly been able to keep many things hidden. Even from me." He uttered playfully and he didn't notice the way that Eli's sunken eyed yet accepting gaze darted between the lavender haired male and the yellow haired one quite a few times. Eli leaned back in his chair at the same time that James did. And after this happened and after Jordan let out a quiet "hmm" noise to contradict James' words before winking at Lynne across the table, the lavender haired male turned his attention properly to Eli. He smiled at him, already gesturing with his hands. "So you've spent most of your time in Unova, haven't you? Do you have a job of some sort?"
Naturally, most of the attention around the room turned towards Eli at this point as there was an opportunity to get to know him a little more. But in the middle of James turning his attention towards the male that was short in stature, out of perhaps the shyness of it all, the deep violet haired male had begun eating the food that he had piled onto his plate.
He took a moment to smile apologetically in between a mouthful of potato and he made sure to swallow every bit before he made any attempts of responding to James. The lavender haired male just smiled patiently in return and took a sip of his own drink. Everyone around the table was intrigued to hear more but they went about it by tucking into their dinner and only listening rather than looking. I was one of the few who kept my gaze on Eli. I couldn't help myself! I was always tickled pink to get to know more people. And I found his own gaze to be as alluring and interesting as his was fascinating.
"Yup. Yup. Unova, that's right." Eli finally spoke and then when a pesky piece of extra food found its way back into his mouth, he reached for a napkin and pretended to wipe his mouth. He spoke past the flowery blue patterned napkin in front of him as he tried to hide the fact that he was still eating. He responded in another more engaging voice following his initial monotone way. "And yeah, I do have a job. Yeah. I won't bore you with it though. It's all computers and stuff. Finding out information. It's a wonder that I can see all you wonderful people with these eyes of mine! I feel like I burn them out all the time with all the screen work I do."
And upon hearing this, though Misty and Lynne nodded their heads in response to Eli's words, after they looked up from their dinner plates and eating, they began murmuring across the table to themselves, engaging their own side-topic of conversation.
But the lavender haired male remained present and he remained listening. He nodded his head when he heard Eli's words and he couldn't help but give him a smile and a wave to wordlessly insist to him that he wouldn't be bored at all. Jordan tucked in with his own food and I did too. The yellow haired male became mainly preoccupied with eating while I kept glancing between the conversations that were taking place.
Following just nodding and smiling in return towards Eli, James had another sip of his drink after eating some of his own dinner that he had helped Lynne prepare and then he engaged further. He left alone the food on his plate entirely for a couple of minutes, pushing his hair out of his eyes and leaning his elbow on the table. He leaned closer to the deep violet haired male as he wholeheartedly got stuck into their interaction.
"That sounds pretty important. That sounds pretty cool. Tell me about it with the screens, though. My wife is currently dealing with that kind of screen burn thing from all the organisation of sorting out the seasons ahead for our business together." The lavender haired male put his own two cents in and it was Eli's turn to nod and listen as he heard briefly about the clothing company that he and his magenta haired wife owned. I felt as though I noticed a bit of a surprised quality in Eli's own orbs as he listened to what was saying but I soon put it down to James touching on him taking a step back from his role to raise his two children with Lynne who were also part of the dinner party. James added more words, his elbow still on his table but his hand touching his glass rather than running through his hair. "Jessie can handle it all brilliantly, though. So what kind of organisations have you had to work for? Big ones?"
Between mouthfuls of boiled potato that Misty had kindly cut up for me on my plate, I reminded myself of the fact that since I had gotten to observe and know Eli over that one day, I noticed him to at that point be a person that chose his words carefully. He spoke in short, precise sentences. He didn't seem to rush things, unlike his yellow haired cousin!
And then strangely almost as soon as I observed this within my own brain, he did quite the opposite. He did something that was very like his cousin, Jordan, there and then. He answered James rather quickly, his sunken eyes widening quite a lot despite all of the damage that they supposedly had.
"Big ones. Big ones." Eli nodded his head as he went along with James' words and he got a lot of attention from the rest of the room and Misty was one of the people who gave it to him most of all. She smirked curiously as although he once again had short sentences, they were said as interestingly as her father often spoke. However before the lavender haired male could knot his eyebrows together with intrigue, the deep violet haired male added, moving a potato on his fork around his plate. "I'm sure that your wife can handle things brilliantly. But I know that you can as well. I've seen some stuff. I've read some stuff. I've read some stuff about you."
And it goes without saying that upon hearing this; the colour couldn't help but be drained from the lavender haired male's cheeks! It didn't help the fact that Eli had stopped poking his potato around his plate and was holding his fork out to James with that vegetable on the end. The orange haired female just found it amusing – plain and simple – Jordan did too. The orange haired woman that was Lynne cleared her throat slightly but then she grew occupied with little baby Johnny gurgling in her hold and beginning to paw at the material on her chest.
The lavender haired male was the one to have the most consistent reaction. The colour remained draining from his face and then after a couple of moments of being still, he forced himself to screw his face up in a humorous way and he shook his head. With those simple gestures, he wondered what exactly Eli had read about him.
Both Jessie and James had been blessed with success and the addition of fame following their rocky beginnings and like it often was, that lead to having to share all your highlights with the rest of the world as well as your mistakes. And addition to this, there could be bad press. Misty and Ash knew that too.
I found myself smirking with the orange haired female that was Misty as I could see that all of the bad press that James had ever come up against flashed across his mind as he tried to compose himself! He wondered how he was going to ask Eli to elaborate without coming across as completely big headed.
But thankfully, the deep violet haired male realised that he was almost holding James had fork-point and put it back down on his plate and as well as this, he continued the conversation himself so he didn't have to. He wasted some time with wiping his mouth all over again but after that, he waved a dismissive hand and explained himself. He had a bit of a sheepish smile on his face but an enthusiastic one too. He evidently enjoyed some part of his job! And was really good at it as well.
"Don't you worry about a thing. Please. I would never share anything about you. Like I said, I can tell you're competent." Eli began by reassuring and I knew as well as James that this wasn't exactly his concern. The lavender haired male's concern was what exactly he had found out! At last, the deep violet haired male shared some information. I guessed that he could be as mysterious as Jordan, too. "It is mad though. I've had to hack Team Rocket in my time. Not too many times. And long ago. But I remember your face. I wouldn't forget your face. Team Rocket. Team Rocket. And you say that Jordan's the secretive one!"
And after Eli rambled through these words but got his point across perfectly also, he took the chance to wave his finger playfully at James and laughed to himself and went back to laughing. There and then, even Jordan and Misty didn't have the heart to laugh along with Eli. Lynne certainly did. She could see the way that colour had been bought back to the lavender haired male's face but he then seemed to be saturated!
He cleared his throat. He didn't know what to say. James didn't know what to say. He didn't know whether to laugh and admit it and dish to the person that he found very likeable and which of course was Eli. And in equal measures, he didn't know whether to bury his head in his hands and deny any involvement whatsoever.
But of course he knew that this would be pointless. It would be absolutely pointless. In addition to the fact that we had all gotten to know and observed Eli's unique speech patterns, it quickly became obvious that he was an intelligent man and there was no putting anything past him.
After the deep violet haired man perhaps showed this himself by winking light-heartedly at James in between continuing eating his dinner, the lavender haired male finally settled on a response and an answer too. Colour still very much in his cheeks and streaking all over his body, he at last removed his elbow off the table and uttered to Eli. He took a sip of his drink first to try and cool himself down. He muttered as politely and as airily as he could.
"Well, let's not get into that now, shall we? Especially not in front of the little ones. And especially not when Justin is due to join us any minute." He made his way through these words and stopped focusing on being polite and airy so they came across as genuine. And they just made Eli laugh! He evidently respected the fact that, much like his cousin, James was able to be upfront with him but in a completely different manner.
And then speaking of laughter and of little ones too, when the lavender haired male's face had finally resumed back to its usual colour and Lynne had rubbed him comfortingly on the back, one of the smallest people came clamouring over. At the same time that the orange haired woman that was Lynne handed baby Johnny over to Misty for a cuddle and so she could properly eat her own dinner, Jorgie came bustling over to the table. She had been toddling around and walking in and out of the chairs throughout most of the dinner but of course, then and there she decided to head towards us! And there and then, she made a beeline for her father.
The colour didn't have time to drain out or back into James' face at all. For once he inwardly groaned when his little half-angel approached and held her arms up towards him. He relaxed for a fraction of a second as this gesture as he hoped that she merely wanted a cuddle – she hadn't heard any part of the lavender haired male and Eli's conversation at all. But of course she had. And Jorgie very much proved it there and then.
"Rocket?" she repeated with a grin on her face and her head tilted as she beamed at her father and she held her hands up. Everybody stifled a giggle! Most of our shoulders shook. The lavender haired male acted quickly and in an unintentionally entertaining way.
He showed off that fact that he still had some of his fibbing and distraction techniques from his Team Rocket days. He pretended to get his little daughter's intention entirely wrong.
"Of course you can have some of my dinner." He spoke hurriedly and breathlessly and before little Jorgie could frown and shake her head and insist that her former words were correct, she was picked up under her armpits and placed on her father's lap. When she was held tight by James and she was lightly tickled around the belly and she was eye-level to a second plate of food too, luckily for all, she quickly forgot about any idea of interrogation.
Soon enough the little orange haired toddler was most content with eating her father's dinner. And the lavender haired male was most content with not having his precious cherub know the truth for a little while longer. He pulled her all the closer to him and ran a hand through her tufty locks when she munched on some of her food and it was there and then that Lynne let out some of her own loving giggles.
And in between finishing off her own dinner after Johnny Jinn was happily bouncing in one of his eldest sister's hold, the orange haired woman that was Lynne engaged properly with Eli for the first time since we had all sat down. She put her own elbow on the table and cupped her hand under her chin, her fixed but oceanic easy-going orbs fixing on Eli's equally unmoving ones.
"So I bet you have all sorts of stories about my Jordan, don't you?" she questioned with a natural amount of love and light-heartedness in her tones and then as if she airily couldn't wait for another answer, she prompted, leaning even closer to the table. She managed to withhold her dreamy sigh. "Did you see each other lots and lots? Did you spend lots of time by the sea?"
Like Lynne managed to withhold her own dreamy sigh, I managed to withhold my own grin as I noticed that when he heard his beloved wife questioning his short statured cousin, he began to act rather coyly. He pretended to be occupied with stealing the remaining potatoes off Misty's plate as she held her little brother in her arms and as well as doing that he glanced aloofly between everyone else at the table.
Eli seemed to catch on almost immediately and though he didn't copy Jordan's antics there and then, he copied his former ones. He pretended to stretch his arms out wide like the yellow haired male had done at the start of meal time and then instead of scratching his belly, he reached his arm out and around Jordan's shoulders. The yellow haired male finally stopped pretending to be coy and returned the gesture, laughing in a warming sort of way.
"Oh, I would have liked to see that guy way more. I have spent most of my life in Unova and attending a boarding school so we mainly spent summers together. Lots and lots of summers though." Eli began to explain and it was that moment that Lynne couldn't withhold her magical sigh in any longer. She let it go and though she didn't want to completely intrude the two male's moment, she reached across the table to brush her fingers along the spare arm of Jordan. Neither of the two boys seemed to mind. The other one that was James didn't either. He smiled contentedly. Eli then added, his arm still not slipping away from Jordan's shoulder. "I lived for those summers, I really did. His brothers would chase me but he would chase them back. He built up those muscles of his from day one. We were always running. Swimming too. But I enjoyed it. Yes. Those were some good times."
And it surprised me that during that moment it was Eli to be the one to trail off rather wistfully and look that way as well. I blinked for a couple of moments. But then soon enough as I hopped onto the knee of Misty while Johnny Jinn bounced on the other, I realised it was foolish of me to assume that Jordan was the only one to have a hard time in his youth. Eli probably had some stories to tell as well. And I would enjoy hearing about them as well as the lighter moments.
James took note of the oncoming quietness of the deep violet haired male's voice and though he nodded clearly, his eyes seemed to do that for him more. With little Jorgie still on his lap, he pulled her closer but then he turned to Eli properly and with that gentleness on his face. He didn't want to make his words about him – far from it – but he wanted to reach out to the other male with words and show that he related. Because he did.
"Well, I'm glad that you had those times together. I can very much understand where you're coming from. It was kind of the same for me. But I lived for the summers with my grandparents. Carefree. Long. Seemingly never-ending. Those were some good times for me as well." The lavender haired male uttered with some seriousness in his voice but fondness in his heart and Eli caught onto this almost as well as Lynne although she was the one to reach her other hand out to James while her first one was still with Jordan.
Recovering and coming away from his own moments of seriousness and quietness, Eli just nodded his head at first. In fact, we were all mostly nodding. But then the deep violet haired male knew that it was time for him to speak. He showed that he had listened to James' words, just like he had been doing for him.
"I'm glad that you had those times as well. And I'm sorry. I'm sorry for your loss. I'm sorry for the loss of your grandmother." Eli put forth in a respectful yet completely un-patronising way and of course it was well received. James didn't say anything in response at all but he held a hand to his heart before holding his glass up in the air, nodding his head as a thanks while his previous gesture was to salute Josie whom he only recently lost.
I glanced around the room during that moment in time and I thought that I would see seriousness and solemnness and perhaps even sadness. But I was wrong. And I couldn't have been more wrong when it came to Jordan. Everyone else had sincere smiles on their faces as they were glad that Josie had been mentioned – for they enjoyed still feeling her presence.
But when it came to Jordan, though he knew well enough to try and hide it, he couldn't stop his shoulders from shaking. He managed not to giggle and then chuckle and then hoot with laughter! But his shoulders trembled. And thankfully soon enough, I caught on.
In addition to being a concise speaker and an intelligent man, we had all gotten to know one of Eli's awkward yet amusing qualities and that was the way that he seemed to always get names and faces mixed up. And not only this, but he got couples mixed up too. And at that point along with the memory not being too far off, Jordan's shoulders shaking as he suppressed his amusement reminded me that he kept thinking that it was James' grandfather who had passed on.
But thankfully before too many people could glance in the yellow haired male's way and furrow his brow at him interrupting a serious occasion with his laughter, something else soon got everybody's attention. It wasn't particularly funny on paper. But it tickled me when it happened.
In the middle of Misty remembering that she was meaning to get out a photo on her phone of the rest of her family and indulge Eli in details of them all, she had only just reached into her pocket when some other relatives appeared. They had most definitely used the door but in the middle of hearty and interesting conversation and bonds being made, hardly any of us noticed. Although Eli couldn't help but notice when the orange haired male that was JJ was suddenly standing by his side.
Eli jumped! Eli jumped most impressively. He almost shot through the ceiling. However, he was polite enough to manage to try and conceal his very honest reaction when JJ took some steps back and blinked. The deep violet haired male cleared his throat and tried to bare his teeth into a grin. But he did stammer.
"W-Whoa… Whoa there… Nice… Nice eyes." He finally concluded and half-awkwardly settled on complimenting JJ's dual coloured eyes while he blinked them. In return he half-awkwardly thanked him. And then Eli turned away only to come face to face with Morgan as well who had also come from the annexe that Jordan and Lynne shared and wanted to see what the grown-ups were doing before it was nearing their bed time.
The yellow haired girl that was Morgan was known for staring almost as much as Eli! But luckily he didn't come up against that too much after his fright from JJ. Jordan laughed out loud while Misty resumed what she was doing, a smirk on her face as she prepared to allow Eli get to know everybody else as well.
"Well you know who these two are and you're obviously aware that they can be sneakers as well." The orange haired female uttered light-heartedly but both JJ and Morgan hadn't been there when Jordan had been accused of being a secret keeper so they threatened to get a little offended. But Lynne was there to make things right before they went wrong and she held her arms out to both children, encouraging them towards her side. She too listened as well as Eli as Misty handed her phone showing a photo over to him and she pointed to the Ketchum family photo. "You'll meet Ash soon enough. It's a shame that he's away at a league meeting at the moment but he'll be over the moon to hang out. Then our kids are with his Mom, Delia and Jayden, one of James' is with them too. He's Katie's sweetheart. But all our kids are my sweethearts. And they'll be thrilled to meet you as well."
And then of course, Misty was thrilled to point at the faces of her children on the photo and indulge Eli in a little bit about them. Katie was the oldest girl and the one with orange hair and she was doing so well with her home-schooling with her grandmother. Ben was the oldest boy and the one with raven hair and he was home from journeying after making so many achievements. James was the middle one and with the slightly reddish hair and was preparing to follow in his big brother's footsteps and embark on a journey of her own. Jessika was the second to youngest girl with the equally as raven hair to Ben and had helped Delia prepare their own dinner that they were eating! And Rey was the youngest and with dark chestnut hair. She was their sunny girl, Misty told Eli.
Eli really listened. Eli really listened to it all. He held onto the photo for a good couple of moments and then when he finally handed it back to Misty, his hand lingered on hers and he wordlessly cupped it, as if he was congratulating her on all the moments that she had missed. She blushed a little bit rosy pink and threatened to well up.
"They look awesome. I'm a fan of them already. And you all look so alike." Eli told his newly-reunited younger relative earnestly and from glancing at the picture myself and on Misty's lap, I didn't know if I was imagining it or not the way that the dark violet haired male glanced between Misty and JJ while he said these words.
I looked around the room and when I saw nobody else taking notice of that, I assumed that it was just me and in my own head. But when I looked at Misty and saw her welling up at that point, I wondered if she was catching onto Eli's unassuming but observant actions. The orange haired female placed her phone back in her pocket and turned her attention to JJ and to Morgan too as they lingered by Lynne's side. She smiled at them, giving them a quirk of the head.
"Come on. I'll settle you ready for bed, shall I?" she offered and the smiles on the two children's faces when they heard these words were almost as sweet as the dessert that Lynne had taken the opportunity to stand up to get while her baby boy Johnny was then being cuddled up in Jordan's arms.
The orange haired female that was Misty had a big of a shy giggle as she saw the faces of the children light up but then she didn't hesitate to stand up and hold her hands out to them both. And in return, they didn't hesitate to hold onto her hands back. They all headed off together and I watched and Eli watched too. That was another little family, he figured out. And he'd soon get to know all of them as well.
A wave of comfortable silence fell over our group in that moment and when James too saw that Johnny Jinn was content as could be in Jordan's arms, he stood up and left Jorgie sitting in his seat and went to help Lynne with fetching the puddings for all. He headed towards the kettle before that though as he knew that Jorgie and Eli had something in common. They had both been drinking bottomless cups of herbal tea that day and James had been attentive to it. He prepared to make another round for those two as well as the puddings that were coming out of their wrappers.
It was when both James and Lynne had seated themselves back down all over again (and shared a peck on the lips seeing as Misty was no longer around) that that silence stopped being apparent. It was gently broken by the lavender haired male handing Eli his chamomile tea and the deep violet haired male thanking him for it, holding it between his hands. He then shared a semi-awkward but friendly smile nonetheless with Jorgie who beamed at him ecstatically after she had been handed her cooled down version in her toddler cup.
And it was after that I smiled and prepared to reflect on the peacefulness of the quiet that had been and gone that it was interrupted! A tad too late for dinner you could definitely argue, Justin had finally arrived home and to his parents' house.
He came bustling in to where he expected everyone to be and he looked a little worse for wear. His newly shorter locks were everywhere and his clothes were half hanging off him. He was lumbering his guitar case with him and it was only just managing to stay in his hold after a long and creatively tiring day.
But nevertheless, he was ready to meet Jordan's cousin and he was ready to engage and be present. His concentrating grin turned to a sheepish one when he realised it was him who was making all that clattering noise and then it turned to earnest and slightly intrigued when he noticed Eli. Eli stood up instantly as someone else entered the room and from photos and the way that James had spoken about him made it apparent that that was Justin.
And that Justin was receptive to the way that Eli had stood up to greet him and tried to come across as polite as ever but in his haste as well as many other things, he accidentally dropped his guitar in its case right on the floor! For once he completely ignored this. He made his way to another of the empty seats opposite Eli and he held his hand out to him. He focused on him first before the rest of the people in the room.
"Eli. You must be Eli. The pleasure is all mine." The deep purple haired male uttered and I noticed that his sentences were shorter than normal and he was rambling a fraction but I soon put it down to the silent mortification that he had dropped his guitar case upon the floor. And as well as this, before Eli could even respond to him. He added more words. He added more rambling words. "I'm so sorry to be this late. Studio stuff and all. But I do apologise."
The lavender haired male lifted Jorgie off his seat and sat down on it with her and in the process he gave his eldest son a poke upon the dimple as his way of pretending to tell him off. Justin shook his head, shaking him off. He seemed to only care about meeting the deep violet haired male and hearing what he had to say. He had heard a lot about him.
Eli showed off his usual quality of taking a minute or two to talk but then after not much time as well, he responded to the younger male. He sat down at the same time as him and gave him a smile and when it came to Justin, a smile that was very similar to Jordan's came out. He responded to his apology even though James had wordlessly done that too.
"Not at all. Not at all. Not at all, Justin." Eli started and Justin smiled in return while Lynne bustled around him, pushing in front of him the plate of dinner that he had missed as well as the dessert that she was bringing around for all. The deep purple haired male lightly touched her arm as a thank you but then his full attention returned to Jordan's cousin. With what he prepared to say next, I didn't know if it was a good thing or not! "You're Justin. You're the g-"
And hardly any time at all after Eli's matching smile with Jordan had come out for all to see, the yellow haired male's loud enthusiasm made its way to the table. He had been in the middle of bouncing Johnny Jinn on his lap and evidently, the baby boy's energetic enthusiasm had rubbed off on him. Or perhaps it was the other way around.
"Guitar player!" Jordan concluded in a (from his point of view) helpful way and after I noticed James swallowing slightly and reaching for his own dessert out of relief that Eli hadn't been able to say something else, the yellow haired male's arm wrapped around his cousin's shoulders all over as if to claim him back. But showing that it was all out of friendliness, he rubbed his knuckles on the top of Eli's head that came many inches below his own shoulder. "See? We have known each other forever. We finish each other's sentences."
Despite the fact that Justin hadn't been there for that interaction either and didn't know the backstory of it, he grinned as well. He grinned and he briefly looked down at his lap, his hair flopping over his face. Unlike his father, he didn't have anxieties over wondering what Eli had originally going to be saying to him.
I glanced over at the deep violet purple haired male. I saw a quality in him there and then that was like Ash when he had a bit of an expression that he didn't know how and where he had gone wrong. From Misty's empty seat I noticed this. And then following that I saw a quality in him that was native to the orange haired female as well. His time spent near the sea and with Jordan must've made him adaptable as well. So there and then he cleared his throat. His well-meaned smile continued as he went with his cousin's words.
"Yes. Yes. The guitar player. Indeed. I've heard so much about you." Eli nodded his head as well as smiled as he responded and though I noticed that Justin had started to pick up the cutlery, I got the impression that getting to know the male that he had heard so much about was higher up on his priority list. Eli copied him and shuffled about his dessert spoon next to his plate before he added. "So what kind of music are you into?"
"So much." Justin blurted out honestly before he could stop himself. It had been a chaotic bustle from realising that he was late for his dinner in the middle of a creative role in his studio and that had evidently made the deep purple haired male more hurried than normal. He noticed this within himself and shook his head bashfully. He tried to make up for this so he took a mouthful of dinner before he answered. But then he answered with equal honesty. "So many different kinds and it's really influencing my own music, more than ever. But I really, really don't want to bore you. And I don't want to commandeer all of the conversation."
But then as James and Lynne seated themselves properly and Misty came back from her little moments with JJ and Morgan also, we all shared a smile as we sat back in our seats. Our smiles spoke the fact that we didn't mind at all if those two boys stuck into their own conversation. We would be happy to listen in as well. And though Justin tried not to make it all about him at first, soon enough, he complied!
And then he was equal parts right and wrong. He did indeed commandeer most of the conversation and with Eli too. But he most definitely did not bore the deep violet haired male. They had found something in common and when they started, they simply couldn't stop.
Many minutes later and after listening many, many, many musical heroes that they both listed and they both shared it became obvious that unlike the rest of us, one person wasn't happy to just listen in and add their few bits here and there. They felt like it was their turn to commandeer most of the conversation! Jorgie then felt like it was her turn to commandeer most of the conversation.
The orange haired little toddler whined to get down from her father's lap and after he obliged, taking the time to shuffle closer to Lynne and take a hold of her instead, from hopping back onto Misty's lap I assumed that she'd make a beeline for Justin. I was wrong. The deep violet haired male was of interest to her as well.
The deep purple haired male and the deep violet haired male were in the middle of concocting a different, subcategory of their musical heroes when Jorgie toddled up to Eli, holding her arms up. Initially, he believed that she was after his herbal tea and he kindly tried to hand it over to her. But she denied him of giving her that! She didn't want that. She wanted something else.
The orange haired female that was Lynne shared a look with James and while she did this, the orange haired female that was Misty shared a look with Jordan. They figured it out. They figured it out before Eli did. I did as well.
The orange haired little toddler was starting to whine and she was threatening to get a little bit frustrated and unhappy with the way that Eli was continuously offering her his tea and then his pudding too. But she didn't want that. She didn't want that at all. We all heard the way that Justin scoffed and muttered under his breath something like those two men were trying to have a conversation. And I felt as though it was there and then that the deep violet haired man felt as though he had sussed it out.
I had noticed over that day that he hadn't been the most natural when it came to children – especially small children – but he made a very good effort in trying to be nice. And it was in that moment that he felt as though he figured out what the little girl wanted.
He gave Justin an apologetic look and after the deep purple haired male didn't have the heart to sigh in case Jordan's cousin thought it was directed at him, he reached down gingerly to the little girl and lifted her up under her armpits. When she was held out in front of his face and she was tilting her head and beaming at him back, Eli addressed her in return. He managed to smile.
"I can see you, little madam. And I know exactly what you want. Your big brother would be overjoyed to have you." The deep violet haired male spoke and before Justin's eyes could widen in horror or any of the people watching could stifle any giggles before they came, Eli reached across the table and he plonked little Jorgie right on Justin's lap.
The deep purple haired male's dimple decorated cheeks reddened as he came up against the internal battle of not wanting to have his toddler sister on him but not wanting to brush Eli the wrong way either. Jorgie was less inclined to hide her true feelings! And everybody else did the same and burst into laughter with the way that her mouth turned upside down and she frowned and she whined. She whined and she whined and she whined!
What Eli didn't realise was that Justin would not be happy to have her there. What Eli didn't realise was that that day, Jorgie had taken a shine to him and she wanted to be seated on him while he and Justin had their musical chat. Eli didn't know any of this at all. He turned to look at the rest of us to help. But we simply laughed and laughed and laughed!
And I focused on all the things that Eli would learn. He would learn about Justin and Jorgie's little love-hate relationship. He would learn and take pride in the fact that little Jorgie wanted to follow him about and liked that she had a new little friend. He would re-learn and re-remember all the things that he shared in common with his cousin Jordan. And he would find kinships with everybody else as well.
And that day as we continued sitting around the dinner table together and talking and laughing and eating dessert too – I knew one thing was for certain. I looked forward to learning about Eli as well. People joining our group made my heart feel so very full. It was hard to imagine that it could get any fuller! But it could. And it would be thanks to people like Eli. It was lucky that my heart seemed to be a place with never-ending space. I could keep eternal amounts of people there. And I could love them eternally too.
The End.
There you go! Thanks so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed :) There's lots of little easter eggs here about certain things about and involving Eli and things I will go further into! As you can tell, he's a pretty observant guy but also gets things muddled quite a lot also. He's not very easy-going around little children but in a completely different way to Justin. Eli will go on to have a pretty important relationship with one of the people he interacts with in this chapter but that's for me and Shannon to know for now. I've written about it already though and it'll get uploaded soon enough! We both really like Eli. And definitely for us, he feels like someone who was always meant to be part of the gang and definitely a part of Jordan. Thanks again for reading and I will be back next Wednesday with another chapter so see you then!
AmyBieberKetchum signing out :)