Never once had Eli imagined he'd be wishing to be trained by Millie. Loona had decided to abandon her duties for a while, leaving Eli to handle her paperwork. While she did do the paperwork, half of it was either ignored or incomprehensible. So there Eli sat, hunched over at the table, attempting paperwork despite not having a clue what to do. Blitzo had given him some basic guidance not too long ago when he noticed Eli racking his brain, trying to figure out where to begin before heading off to his office. Though Eli had an easier time with it now, he still struggled.
His phone suddenly chimed with a playful tone—Connie's ringtone. Eli answered, and Octavia's tired face appeared on screen.
"Hey, Eli. You busy?" She asked. Since her parents' marriage was fixed, Stella had been spending more time with Octavia. Stolas occasionally joined in their little bonding time, and she was happy about that. At the same time, things had started to feel overwhelming, as her mother insisted that Octavia should act more like royalty, which involved a lot of basic lessons–which was Hell. It was quite ironic considering where they currently are.
Eli set the phone upright on the table so Octavia could see him clearly. "Unfortunately, I am." He replied, his stormy blue eyes glancing at her before turning back to the pile of cursed paperwork. It was more of an annoyance than anything else. Octavia groaned miserably. Out of all the times she wanted to relax and hang with Eli, he had to be busy.
"Can't you just ignore it or do it later?" She suggested, rubbing her temples. She was sure the paperwork wasn't that urgent.
Eli sighed. "I wish I could." He shook his head. "But apparently, paperwork is important. Both my pop and my boss said so." He added dryly. Moxxie had explained that staying on top of things kept them organized, while Blitzo, of course, had mentioned that it was for the money—before laughing.
Octavia rolled her eyes at the mention of Blitzo. Despite her parents' marriage being fixed, that red asshole still showed up whenever Stolas called, and Stella often joined, wanting to understand why he was so fixated on the imp. Octavia learned just how loud her mother could be and how little sleep she could get because of it. She secretly cursed Blitzo and took a bit of satisfaction seeing how drained he is because of her parents.
"Octavia?" Stella's voice suddenly rang through the phone, causing both her and Eli to panic. Eli quickly muttered the transformation spell Stolas had taught him. The grimoire glowed faintly, and the transformation was instant—Eli was now in his owl demon form. Given how dangerous the missions were becoming, and how worried Millie had been, Blitzo had decided Eli should keep the grimoire close.
Octavia chuckled nervously. "Hey, Mom." She said, offering a forced smile. Stella huffed a bit. She had been searching for her little princess for a while and almost thought she'd gone missing when she couldn't find her.
"Where were you, young lady? You almost gave me a heart attack." Stella chided playfully, which was a huge surprise to Eli. He had never expected Stella to use such a soft voice before, and he'd only met her once.
"Sorry, Mom. I was just talking to a friend." Octavia explained, hoping to ease her mother's worry. Stella's eyes shifted to the phone, and she noticed Eli—what a pleasant surprise.
"Ah, it's you. I never caught your name last time, we were too busy bawling our eyes out." Stella said, her tone sophisticated, her hand resting on her chest as she spoke to Eli as though he were another high-ranking demon.
Eli flinched slightly but didn't let it show. He quickly gathered the scattered papers and stacked them neatly before placing them back on the table. Using every bit of knowledge about being respectful and gentlemanly, he faced Stella fully with a small smile of his own. Eli cleared his throat and adopted a more sophisticated tone — as sophisticated as he could get, considering how stoic he usually was. "My name is Eli..." He glanced around, confusing both of the royal demons, before continuing, "Rose. Forgive me for the delay in answering, but I'm quite caught up in some paperwork." He answered smoothly, though deep down, he had felt an odd sense of foreboding when he was about to say his last name, though it dissipated the moment he changed it.
Stella nodded approvingly. She seemed satisfied with his response and tone. "Understandable. And I see you're busy." Her gaze shifted to the paperwork visible on the table. "I'm impressed. Not many teens would even consider touching a pen these days. Octavia could learn a thing or two from you." She added with a sly smile, causing Octavia to deadpan at her mother.
"Mom!" Octavia exclaimed, earning a playful chuckle from Stella.
Eli couldn't help but let out a simple laugh—real, not his usual dry one. "Please, it's fine." He said, turning back to the papers, pen in hand. "Though you're not wrong, Miss Stella. I am quite busy."
"Well, do remember to take breaks." Stella advised, her voice shifting to one of genuine concern. "And let your boss know he has a... 'meeting' with me and Stolas this week. Alright?"
Octavia visibly cringed at the thought of that meeting, while Eli smiled but internally groaned. He could already imagine Blitzo's reaction.
"Of course, Miss Stella." Eli said with fake enthusiasm.
"Now, then. Let's go, Via. One of your uncles invited us to a tea party." Stella said, taking Octavia's wrist.
Octavia's eyes widened in horror. She turned to the phone, pleading with Eli. "Please, no! Eli, help me!" She wailed just as the call ended.
Eli let out a huge sigh of relief, his shoulders slumping. Acting had proven more difficult than he'd expected. Maybe he could cross that off his list of potential careers.
A/N: And done, this is one of the scene that I'm somewhat proud of.
I'm pretty sure I already told the readers how old Eli is, but it's fine. His 14 years old, mostly to avoid to much headache on my side. I know he more a teen, though I remember being treated as a kid when I was 14 so, yeah.
Sorry for not updating for 2 days, I think? Anyways, I had to do a lot of stuff to prepare, so I was busy, busy, busy. Now I have a headache.