Eyes Never Lie - Elliot & Aliyah

[Lancaster]

Elliot was still ruminating on how to hide Aliyah’s teeth. He had opened his mouth to tell her she could pretend she’d just broken up with someone. Or that she’d had a fight with her best friend. Something, anything, that would explain her sudden inability to smile. A dampened mood that made smiling impossible. Given her anxiety about the entire situation, it wouldn’t be hard, right? Regardless of how happy she could be to see her parents. Elliot knew that as much as he knew it was inadvisable to invite his mother to Harper Rock—or even to travel the long distance to Australia to visit her—he would be ecstatic to see her face again. Just one last time. Hell, he’d love to tell her everything so that they could visit each other whenever they liked.

That was the thought on his mind when he caught Pi’s glance out of the corner of his mind. It was like sunshine had started to creep out from behind dark clouds, thinking they could just… let them know. How much easier would that be? There’d be no reason to hide anything.

But, of course, there was Pi. Elliot’s chin tucked close to his chest and he didn’t turn to look at her. He didn’t catch that glance or return any kind of thoughtful expression. There were certain things that he and Pi would never fully agree on, and the wholesale slaughter of any human who ever knew anything about vampire-kind was one of them. Though, he wondered these days whether Pi’s views had changed, just a little. Whether or not she could be persuaded…

When he looked up at Aliyah, he saw her staring. As if hoping for a positive response. All Elliot could do was shrug, and in part agree with Pi. It was a hard question to answer if it had not already come to pass; it was something that probably didn’t bare thinking about, until it actually happened. He cleared his throat.

”I think that would depend on their reaction. Pi’s right. We can’t give an answer now without knowing the full extent of the consequences, if it were to happen,” he said. Elliot’s own mother, he thought, would probably be a bit surprised and a little afraid, at first, but he believed she’d probably accept it, in the end. And she’d do nothing about it. She’d move on. She’d joke about it, sooner or later. All of a sudden, he missed his mother. More than he had ever missed her before.

[Aliyah]

As much as they had tried avoid the topic due to its weight, they made it clear in the way they reacted to the question that there would be no easy way to handle it. While Pi hadn't mentioned the killing of her parents, she hadn't said that it wasn't an option, either. That left a lot to the imagination, and lately, her imagination had run wild and free. The worst case scenarios formulated without her consent, leaving her with horrifying images that no one remotely sane would enjoy. At least, she imagined so. Vampires seemed rather twisted, so maybe they would enjoy it...depending on who it was.

And it was a struggle not to cry right there in front of them both. There was a very real possibility that they would learn the truth, and in doing so, would expose the whole underground community. Unless they found ways around it. The sudden weight on her shoulders and tension of her muscles exhausted her. Her eyes fell closed for an instant before opening long enough to look between her two mentors and friends. They were going to do what they could to help, and she owed them thanks.

"Pi, Elliot...thank you. I know this is more drama than it is probably worth, but I do really appreciate that you both are helping me handle the situation..." she sighed, reaching out to place a hand on Pi's arm and giving Elliot a nod. They had come to her aid the moment she needed it. "When should we start? Tomorrow night? I'm kind of tired...the stress I think."

She reached up and rubbed at her eyes, trying to fight the fatigue settling over her in the worst way. All she wanted to do was lay down and forget the stress and 'what if's that clouded her mind. If she could have, a strong drink would have been in her hand. But, that was no longer an option. There was no way to make it all go away, except to sleep it off.

[Pi dArtois]

Pi nodded when Elliot said she was right, cause what else could she do. Her answer for Aliyah had been based solely on the assumption of what she thought would be the best answer given the circumstances, not necessarily the one she believed would happen. So nodding her head was the appropriate (and only) response she had.

“I think it is probably just the right amount of drama Aliyah. Even Elliot hasn’t run into this situation yet, because his mother lives so far away… so in a way, you’re breaking new ground for us. We’ll work it out. Somehow.” She offered.

Despite the fact she held pessimistic views on the situation, Pi wasn’t above wishing it could be different. There was the best case scenario and that was the one where parents flew in, saw their daughter and flew back out again. Their presence would be a small blip on the radar and then life could go back to normal again. Of course, Pi’s limited knowledge of parents in general meant her pithy view of them being satisfied with one fly by in a lifetime was hardly accurate of parents at all. It surprised her still that Elliot’s own mother hadn’t made a fuss given how long it had been since he’d been turned. But Pi knew no better really.

Covering Aliyah’s hand with her own Pi squeezed lightly. Small comfort really, when probably a full body hug was more appropriate and if Pi were any other person, something she’d have been happy to supply.

“No, not tonight… tomorrow is early enough. I think maybe too Elliot and I can ruminate on it a bit longer and maybe we can come up with something better than… we’ll deal with it when it happens.”

[Lancaster]

Elliot’s own mother was starting to fuss, in her own way. Begging her son to come home for Christmas. To come home. Elliot hadn’t told his mother that he’d settled in one place; if she knew where he was she might have come to visit already. But, she was also a woman who lived on a meagre retirement payment and who would struggle to afford the trip anyway. She could have been saving, of course. The option was there, and not one that should be dismissed. Sooner or later the woman would break. Or Elliot would. And he would go back to visit her. Maybe he would take Pi with him. Or maybe he’d take off one day and wouldn’t tell Pi, because he feared the consequences.

But his mother wasn’t the one flying in, now. It was Aliyah’s parents doing that. Not just one of them, but two of them. Elliot knew his own mother. She was harmless. He had no idea who Aliyah’s parents were, or what kind of problems they might represent. They would have to deal with those when they were presented.

For now, there was tomorrow. And a few more tomorrows after that. They had time to get things organised and maybe, just maybe, they could keep the can of worms capped for a while. Elliot stood and sauntered over to where Pi sat. One hand settled on Pi’s shoulder; the tag team, who must now take their leave to allow Aliyah to get her rest. From what Elliot knew of Aliyah, she was as victim to her emotions as he was. If not more.

He offered a smile to Aliyah, lopsided and yet genuine.

”Stress is a *****,” he said. He knew exactly how stress could rain one’s energy. ”But hopefully that’s alleviated a little bit, now. We can take some of it away from you,” he said, his grip on Pi’s shoulder squeezing just a little bit to indicate that they should leave, now.

[Aliyah]

The fact that this was new territory with Pi and Elliot made Aliyah's nose wrinkle, a wariness settled over her like a black aura of doom. There was no doubt in her mind that the two of them were perfectly capable of handling the situation, especially with the three of them and Skylar working together to make sure it goes as easily as possible. With Skylar's appearance of perfect humanly innocence, her parents had to believe that everything was okay. Right? Right. Or, that was what the blonde was going to tell herself, anyway. If she wanted to get any sleep tonight, that was the only option.

Pi small comfort was enough, surprisingly. As much as Ali would have loved for a long hug, she couldn't expect that from two people who were still getting to know her, and she them. So, the simple squeeze of her hand was enough to bring a small sense of peace to her racing mind, quieting it for a precious moment. She gave the French woman a small smile and a nod, though the exhaustion was more than likely obvious in the way her smile faltered and her eyelids began to droop.


"Tomorrow sounds great..." she agreed, turning to look at Elliot as he spoke of their ability to take away the stress of dealing with everything alone. Had that been the case, there was a chance she would not be able to handle it, at all, and end up with more trouble than anything. It would have likely ended with the death of her parents, and more than likely, herself. Of course, she wouldn't really be dead...not like they would.

As she stood up from her spot. she held out a hand toward the door so that she could be the gracious guest and see them out. It was going to be a long day for the three of them and they had a lot of plans to set in motion before the parents actually arrived. Like getting Skylar on board to help with the cabin, and finding a means to hide her pale skin and practice of hiding her fanged smile. "Thank you, both...see you tomorrow?" she asked, knowing the answer before they even offered it.