Blast From The Past [Eli]

[Midori Hawkins]

Despite being relatively new to Hammel, Mii knew the building like the back of her hand. She had been a student here and, when she thought about it, it wasn’t really all that long ago she’d graduated. Just six short years. It was surprising how fast she’d grown tired of the “real world.” Metas were encouraged to leave the nest, so to speak. For Mii, it had just been a hassle. Her ability was easy to conceal, yes. But it was a part of her. Thankfully, her family had understood. So, here she was. Back in Pilot Ridge. Back at Hammel.

It was strange feeling of home and familiarity. The students had changed, and some of the staff, but all in all, she was happy to be back. Happy that she was free to take any form she wanted again, without fear of rejection from the meta-phobes. Though her ability wasn’t all that useful, it was fun.

She’d already gotten to know a few of her coworkers, namely the recruiters, as well as the head of the department (who she’d liked instantly). She’d shadowed one of the more experienced recruiters a few times, to see how the process worked, and had since gone on several trips on her own. There was a lot of travelling, but she didn’t mind. This way, she got to see places she’d otherwise have little chance to visit.

During her years as a student, she’d spent a good deal of her downtime either in her dorm, or in the library, tucked in the corner. She’d known several like-minded students, and had found their company far more pleasant than the idiots that ran around outside, yelling and rolling in the grass. And it was the library she was heading to now. Her plan was to find something interesting to occupy her time on her next trip. But the moment she walked in, she found herself distracted. The man behind the main desk... he looked familiar. It didn’t take her long to remember. After all, there were very few kids she’d hung out with in her school days enough to consider them friends. “... Eli?”

[Ignore the shitty title. >_>]

[Eli Morrison]

Like most days, Eli was sitting behind the main desk of the library, a stack of books on either side of him. Lately, he'd been on a Sherlock Holmes kick, so a leatherbound collection of detective stories was open on his lap, and he was mostly-immersed. Despite sometimes feeling like he'd missed out by not going to University, he really did like working at Hammel, and at least here he got to read as much as he wanted, whenever he wanted. Eventually, he was going to run out of books--he learned to speed-read as a young teenager, so he could go through several over the course of a few hours--but for now he was well-supplied.

The voice surprised him; it wasn't often that students interrupted his reading by calling him by his first name. Eli looked up, instantly recognizing the woman in front of him. A smile broke out across his face; Midori, it was good to see her. "Mii," he put down his book and stood up, towering over her, just like he had when she'd graduated Hammel and left, "I was wondering when you'd come and find me here."

He'd known about her coming to work for Hammel, but hadn't actually seen her around yet. His old friend was now in the recruiting department, which was a section of the building he avoided whenever possible. He didn't like Willow, and he always felt oddly scrutinized by the head of the department, as if his scruffy hair and slightly-rumpled clothing indicated that he as up to no good. And he wasn't actually sure that she'd want to see him again. She'd left, gone on to do other things. The closest he'd had to excitement was becoming the subject for the new meta specialist's thesis. (Even she couldn't figure out what his supposed "side effect" was.) But she was here now, and that was something.

Surely, she wanted to see him, right?

[Midori Hawkins]

Even when they were kids, and teenagers, back at Hammel, Mii had always been well aware that Eli loved to read. While she stuck to her textbooks (when needed), and a lot of fiction, he seemed to read, well... everything. She’d been jealous of him, in that he was brilliant. He always got the best marks, and he was so well read. As students, it hadn’t seemed completely fair. Of course, as she’d gotten older, that jealousy had disappeared. It was impossible to fault him for his ability. By the time she’d left Hammel, Eli was probably one of her closer friends. She’d studied with him as best she could when it came to academics, and more often than not, he was able to help her without even picking up a textbook.

When Eli looked up, Mii copped a happy grin. It was him. She’d recognize him anywhere. Of the few times she’d popped into the library, it had always been a student at the desk. So she was glad to see it was him. Looking up when he stood up, she realized very little had changed in the six years she’d been away from the school. He was still tall, skinny, and that slightest bit scruffy. She always felt short around him. ... And a little bit dumb, but that wasn’t entirely his fault. “Hi!” She tucked her hair behind her ear. “I know, I’ve been busy with this recruiting stuff.”

Not that that was an excuse. At least, not a good excuse. She’d wanted to see him, but work kept getting in the way. Now she’d finally caught him, she was glad to see him again. So much so, that she stepped around the desk and threw her arms around his neck. “It’s good to see you again!” Of course, a moment later, she realized that she was just a little out of line. Blame the excitement of seeing her old friend. (Yes, she’d gone to school with Willow, but even then, she hadn’t liked the other woman much.) She slipped her arms from around him and stepped back, looking sheepish. “Uh... sorry.” She supposed apologizing was the best thing to do. That, and explain, perhaps, why she was here now. “You’re lucky you got to stay here, Eli. The real world isn’t all that great. Lots of meta-phobes out there.” She smiled up at him. “I missed you. And our friends. ... And Hammel, really. This place just feels like home, in a weird way.” She shrugged. Most metas understood. Hammel had that effect on them all.

[Eli Morrison]

Eli did love to read. In his mind, it was putting his powers to the only good use he had for them. After all, what was the point of remembering everything and being able to extrapolate on it if he didn't bother to learn something in the first place. So he needed books, since he'd quickly out-learned his teachers. He'd graduated high school at the age of fourteen, then stuck around while waiting for the side-effects of his powers to show up. No such luck. And though he probably could have easily gotten into just about any university in the world, he couldn't go there and jeopardize the privacy and secrecy surrounding Hammel. But working in the library gave him access to all the things he could be learning outside of it, and no one (besides Dr. Prideaux) wanted to study him.

It was really good to see Mii again. He had never made very many friends--partially because of shyness and partially by accidentally offending people by assuming they weren't as smart as him--so having one of his closer ones come back to Hammel had been a treat, even if she had been too busy to see him.

Eli was a little jealous of Mii, for her job. While he acknowledged that he was most useful at Hammel, in the Library, absorbing everything he could, it would be nice to travel sometimes. She got to see the rest of the country, continent, and quite possibly more of the world than he would ever manage. All of his extra money was saved, just in case he found himself without, again. Even though he could afford a trip overseas, he couldn't justify it to himself.

Saving money was practical.

The hug surprised him, and he stiffened. Though they'd been close in high school, Mii knew how he was uncomfortable with physical affection. Eli awkwardly patted her shoulder, but was relieved when she let go. "It's good to see you too, Midori." Were they still close enough for him to call her Mii? Or did their time apart justify a more formal address? That was not something he could learn from a book.

And though he was envious of her job, and where it took her, he understood why she liked being back. "It's certainly my home." It was the first--and only--place where he had ever felt like he was both safe and wanted.

[Midori Hawkins]

As far as she could tell, Mii’s own power really... was entirely useless. At least when the person who harboured it was as passive as she was. She knew Willow used her shapeshifting to her advantage. And Nina... well... the less said about Nina Levitra, the better. The best use Midori had found for her power was entertaining her little niece, turning into small, soft creatures for her to play with. Even she had to admit that running around as a small kitten, or something to that effect, was much more fun than any game she could think of to play with the little girl. ... Unless Robyn forgot to be gentle. Then, it wasn’t so much fun. But she remembered Eli’s power vividly. If she’d been the cheating type, he would have been the perfect subject to cheat from in class. Instead, she’d simply gone to him for information on anything and everything for her class assignments. It saved her a trip to the library, and he was infinitely better company than the books.

She really was happy to see Eli again. Out of all the people she’d come to know in her time at Hammel, he’d been the one she’d liked to spend time with. He was quiet, like her, and a fantastic study partner. She really had missed him when she’d graduated (several years after he had – that was weird). Willow and Nina, not so much.

Though the travel was interesting, really, Eli didn’t have much to be jealous of. A lot of her time was spent with the families of the kids she was attempting to recruit. Not sightseeing, not taking in the new place like she might have wanted. Truth be told, if she was going to travel, it wouldn’t be within the USA. She wanted to see more of the world, but something like that would have to wait until she had enough vacation time, and money, to go.

Midori hadn’t meant to make Eli uncomfortable. She’d just been, well, happy to see him. But she could read the relief on his face when she’d let go, and she made a mental note to not do that again. ... Unless she had a really, really good reason. “Well, I’m glad to hear that. Willow didn’t seem as happy to see me back.” She’d accepted it a long time ago. She and Willow just weren’t destined to be best friends, or anything of the sort. And she was okay with that.

She hadn’t had it so bad back home. Her parents, her brothers, they all accepted her status as a meta-human. Her middle brother, Zach, even thought it was, quote, ‘bitching cool’. Carefully, she backed up so that she was leaning against the desk. “I know. There’s something about this place.” She trailed her fingers along the surface of the desk before she glanced back at him. “So, what’s happened in the last little while? Anything interesting?” She knew she didn’t have any huge updates. Worked in the real world, gotten sick the meta-phobes and the mundane pace of life, and had come back to Hammel, like so many graduates. But maybe Eli had some interesting stories.

[Eli Morrison]

The corner of Eli's mouth quirked into a smile. He wasn't particularly friends with Willow either. Probably because she was never going to get over that he would always be smarter than her, and he would never get over her abrasive personality. (Ask her why, and you'd probably get another answer, though.) "She didn't seem thrilled when she came back as a recruiter, and I was still here." He shrugged again, in a "what can you do?" gesture. Even though he'd graduated a year earlier than Willow, he had never left the school. He'd never even been outside of Vermont since moving there.

There was no "back home" for Eli. His stepfather had been just as happy to see the last of him as he'd been to see the end of the old man. His mother had been long gone by that point. (Though he'd tracked her down a month or so ago, she'd changed her name and remarried. He hadn't contacted her; it was possible she didn't even know her son was a meta-human. Or even still alive.) Oddly, out of everything his stepfather had been cruel to him about, being a meta-human was not one of them. So he'd always lived in a pro-meta place as well.

"Nothing really. I banned one of the pyrokinetics from the library a few months ago after he set fire to Moby Dick and now I have his friend coming in every day asking if I have any more books on dragons he can look at." Really, Eli had a strange job, and he was just the librarian. How much worse would it be for a trainer or a recruiter? "Oh, and I got a new dog, Zero. She just loves everybody, if you want to come over sometime." They'd had good times when they were younger, watching classic movies together. Maybe they should do that again, to catch up? It would be nice to have a friend come over and use the other seat on his couch.

[Midori Hawkins]

Willow had always been that way, even when they were all students. Jealous of Eli’s ability, and rough around the edges. Still, Mii found it interesting at least, that they were all back and working at their old school. She smiled at Eli, giving a slight roll of her eyes. “That’s Willow for you.” It seemed like very little had changed between them. It was a nice feeling, knowing that. “That’s really too bad for her. I was happy you’re still here.” And technically, she still was. It was nice to have a friend around.

Although he hadn’t mentioned it much (there really wasn’t much to mention), Mii had know about Eli’s parental situation. From the little he’d said, she’d never held a particular fondness for his stepfather, and was endlessly grateful whenever she returned home. She was lucky. She had parents that loved her, and two brothers that did as well. Things could have been a lot worse.

Eli’s answers to her question made her laugh. Pyrokinetics setting fire to books? “That’s terrible. Why Moby Dick? Why couldn’t he have burned something like… I don’t know… that Twilight thing, with the vampires?” That was something she’d never gotten into, and never had understood the appeal of. “And if that friend of his is coming in, at least that means he’s interested in learning?” Granted, she had no idea what said friend was like. And she was afraid to ask. So she was grateful for the topic change of his dog. She remembered that about him, that he’d liked animals. It was just hard to keep a dog in the dorms. “Zero? Like the dog in Nightmare Before Christmas?” She grinned. “Is she cute?” If there was one topic she could cling to, it was pets. Not that she had any, at the moment. And the invitation made her think. A few memories came back of their student days. “Really? I’d love to meet her.” She cocked her head. “Did you have a day in mind? Where you aren’t busy? Um, I’m not due to fly anywhere for a few days.” Thank God for that. It was just catching up on paperwork from her last trip for now.

[Eli Morrison]

"I don't think it was intentional, but he was in here with one of his friends, joking about the book title having the word 'dick' in it. Then all of a sudden the book was on fire. He will never be allowed back." With the exception of Zero, whom he absolutely adored, he didn't have a connection with any living thing as close as his connection to his library. And that meant playing with fire was not allowed. Eli considered himself and Sam both lucky that the fire had only destroyed one book. If it had been a book on a shelf, it's likely the whole room would have gone up before he'd have been able to stop it. And then he would have had to deal with a homicide charge, and he really didn't have the time.

Nor did Eli think he would do well in prison.

And while the man was well-versed in many topics, modern film was not one of them. The movie had come out before he'd come to Hammel, and he'd never really bothered with DVDs, or owning a DVD player. Sure, he would sometimes watch television, but he hadn't seen a movie in years, literally. "Um, no. I actually haven't seen it. The rescue I got her from named her Zero, and she seemed to like it, so I just kept calling her that."

He didn't have any other obligations, other than work, letting Dr. Prideaux interview him and run tests on his memory and comprehension, and the occasional helping of the little old lady who ran the bakery under his apartment lift something heavy. And it was a Friday, so no work tomorrow morning. (He came in Saturday and Sunday afternoons for the students who had put off papers until the last minute.) "Are you busy tonight?"

[Midori Hawkins]

“Ah. … I’m so glad you weren’t that immature.” Even when they’d been young, Eli hadn’t been the guy that snickered in the back of class over dirty notes and toilet humor. Maybe that was why she’d gravitated towards him as a friend back then. She got enough of the potty jokes from her brother, Zach, so it was nice to have a friend that didn’t stoop to that level like so many of their classmates did. “I think I’d have banned him, too.” While she didn’t like reading nearly as much as Eli did (hell, no one liked reading as much as Eli did), she still had a healthy respect for the material. Setting fire to books wasn’t a good plan. Ever. Though the idea of it happening made her smile a little. She’d never seen Eli lose his temper, so seeing him irate enough to ban someone from the library would have been an interesting thing to witness.

Movie nights, while common at Hammel, had been common at home for Midori too. There had been many a night that her brothers had kidnapped her, and taken her to the basement, there they’d piled on the couch and watched movies until she and Zach passed out, leaving Corbin to turn off the machinery and prod his siblings to bed. So she was familiar with such things as Tim Burton’s brilliance. She did blush a little at his answer, though. “Sorry. It was just the first thing that popped into my head. It’s something my brothers and I used to watch together.” She shrugged it off.

With the exception of paperwork, Mii really had nothing else to do for the time being. She hadn’t gotten around to finding a pet of her own (much as she wanted one) since settling into her new place, nor did she think it was a really good idea, with her travel schedule. She might have to settle for asking Eli if she could visit with Zero, if she needed an animal fix. The offer that left her friend’s mouth made her smile, though. A dog visit tonight? Plus catching up with one of her oldest friends? “No, actually. Once I’m done my paperwork, I’m home free.” She shrugged again. “I’m still sort of new to the area, so apart from you and Willow, I really don’t know anyone to hang around with.” … Not that she’d hang out with Willow, if she had an option.

[Eli Morrison]

Yes, Eli had always been quite mature for his age. That probably had something to do with earning his high school diploma at around the same time he hit puberty. He'd always been grouped with the older students, and had done his best to fit in with them. Not that it had worked, if Willow's views of him were anything to go by. "I think that might have something to do with no kids liking the know-it-all. I had to be mature." But now he was an adult, and still felt older than other people his age. At least that was expected of a librarian.

Eli had never had siblings, had isolated himself from his roommates while he was at school, and lived alone. He'd never had the pleasure of piling onto a couch to watch a movie and (most likely) tell the characters exactly why their course of action was wrong. (When running away from someone, do not run upstairs. You will be cornered and caught. That's just common sense.)

Eli smiled; it was the first time he'd had someone over to his apartment in a while. "I'll order a pizza. Do you remember that bakery on First Street? Well, I've got the apartment above it now. And, um, if you have a movie you want to watch, bring it, and we can watch it on my laptop." He didn't even own a DVD player, and his TV had a smaller screen than his laptop. It wouldn't be anything special, but it would be nice to catch up, at least.

[Midori Hawkins]

Midori had actually liked that about Eli. She knew she’d always been closest to her oldest brother, who’d always been the mature, level headed one. Zach had just been a general annoyance, and he still was, despite the age difference. One would hope he’d know better at this point, but he didn’t. In fact, she heard from Corbin every so often, and he was convinced Zach was going to do something stupid in college. Like flunk out, or drink himself to death. Yeah. Guys like Eli were just better. “I liked the know-it-all,” she admitted. “But that’s because you were a lot less intimidating than Willow, and a great study partner. ... And you were a nice guy. There’s a lack of those in the world.”

She was actually happy to have some kind of plans for a Friday night. Back home, she probably would have been dragged out to some horrible, loud, smoky night club in clothing she just didn’t feel right in, and be bullied into drinking and dancing. This was a lot more appealing, in so many ways. Catching up with an old friend, seeing his new dog. It would be nice. “Sure, that sounds good.” That was easy enough to find. “Um, I’ll try to find something you might like.” Maybe something they’d watched as students.

Her gaze wandered the clock, and she realized that she’d been in here a lot longer than she’d planned on. If she had a hope of finishing her work and leaving on time, she’d better run. “Shoot. Eli, I have to get back to my office, or I’m never getting out of here.” She flashed an apologetic smile. “I’ll see you after work, okay?” She gave a little wave and slid off the desk, retreating back to her office.