The Case of Monachopsis

Chapter 10- Shifting Tides

"God this is far from easy." Elijah said to himself, frowning at the reflection in the hand held mirror Ira had gifted him the day before.

He lowered the mirror, tucking it away with his other small pile of belongings she accumulated for him. He was no closer to appearing exactly like her than he was three days ago. The frustration started to set in the moment he realized he could not change the shapes of his eyes, despite memorizing every minute detail on her face. For someone who spent a large part of his day platonically looking into the eye of the person who was once his best friend, he could only memorize their exact shape and color but not replicate it on himself. Elijah pursed his lips as a low growl escaped his throat. They were already a day late for their initial plan of escaping and he made no progress on his part of the execution. With a promise to Ira to not take any shortcuts, he shuddered at the thought of how long it might take at his current pace to successfully shift.

All the while, Ira had memorized everything she needed, maybe even more, judging by the way she began creating her own combinations of sigils.  In Elijah's mind, it would be easy to skip tonight's practice session. He had no real desire to watch himself fail again, despite Ira's best effort to encourage him to not give up hope. Truly, Elijah was puzzled. Deep down, he knew of some mental block keeping him from achieving his goal of appearing exactly like Ira. Though, he feared what he might find if he did go digging around the source. The feeling followed him even as he tried to banish his anxieties, stepping through the now familiar office belonging to Jordan.

"Hey!" Ira greeted him with a wave as she patted the space beside her on the couch. "What took you so long?"

"A man has his needs." Elijah joked half heartedly.

"I bet those needs involve taking twenty minutes just to walk just a few halls down?" Doubt lay thick in Ira's voice as she raised an eyebrow.

"You think I can't last that long?" Elijah smirked, aware he was still just stalling for time to avoid their usual session.

Ira's gaze, now intent and focused on his body language sent shivers up his spine. Honestly, she knew his tricks well enough to know not to let this play out any longer. With arms now folded, Ira stood and gestured with her head to the couch where Elijah eventually sat. He didn't bother to ask for further details on how her study on sigils was going. He realized, long ago at the academy, that Ira was a quick study if she put her mind to it.

"Honestly, we can probably get away with the current version of your shifting. The only real difference is the eyes, and I doubt that someone would be looking that closely to realize they're slitted. Most people avoid looking at me anyways because of this hideous scar, I'm not exactly an eye candy here." Ira reasoned, waving faintly to her own face for a moment.

"Did you really just make a pun at a time like this? I feel like you're mocking me." Elijah said, defeated as he leaned back into the couch cushions.

"No, I'm just trying to get you to strategize with me. It's been three days. I thought you wanted to escape, but every time I try to provide a suggestion, you insist on going with our original plan!" Ira said, looking at Elijah with a judgemental gaze.

"I can do it! I'll prove it tonight... You've just been stressing me out these last couple of days." He carefully turned his head toward her, casting a fiery glare in her direction to return the look she had given him. Truthfully, he wanted to place the blame elsewhere to lessen the shame he felt.

"Me?! You asked for these nightly practice sessions! I don't have to spend my nights here at the office, trust me. I'd rather be in bed in my apartment instead of sleeping here every night like I live here." Ira corrected, her voice on the verge of a shout.